“We played a solid two halves, which we hadn’t been doing,” said Latham, who scored on a great service from Heather Mitts off a set piece in the 37th minute. Latham knocked in a header back post, a half step before crossing the endline. Mitts’ ball, from just outside the far corner of the box, was met by a surging Latham, who knocked it off the gloves of Freedom keeper Erin McLeod.

“We’ve been working on just bending them hard back post,” Latham said. “And I happened to have that back post run, so I just stuck with it and went all the way through and the ball was right there. It was easy. It was a really good service from Heather. It probably didn’t look easy, but it was.”

The ball came into the box, and it appeared as if Angela Hucles would get a head on it, but Latham said she called her off as soon as she saw she had a clear opportunity to beat McLeod.

“I told Ange to leave it, and she ended up ducking a little bit, so she left it for me,” Latham said. “(We have) selfless teammates. She could’ve probably tried to go for it, but she didn’t.”

Mitts talked about the set piece and how she’s worked to elevate her play as a left back.

“It’s something that I’ve been working on all season long is really bending the ball in there, trying to look for the back post,” Mitts said. “Luckily for me, I whipped it in there, and Latham got on the end of it. It’s been a real challenge for me, getting used to playing on the left, so I’m constantly after practice working on anything that involves my left foot. Obviously I want to have the ball on my right, but right now it’s about focusing on my left. The first couple games it felt like I was starting over, and every game has gotten a little bit better.”

Mitts also appeared frustrated that she hasn’t been able to make more of an impact on the attack and getting involved in overlapping runs, ones that right back Alex Scott has taken advantage of.

“I felt like I really didn’t get as involved tonight as I would like,” Mitts said. “The past couple games, I don’t know why, but I’m usually very, very involved getting crosses combined with getting up the flank. It just was the way the game was.”

Latham’s goal, her second against the Freedom when she scored what proved to be the game winner in the April 18 game in Washington, came 25 minutes after Kelly Smith nearly put Boston on the board with a blast off the bar. The play was set up when Kristine Lilly slid into the corner to save the ball from going out of play and then crossed it to Smith, who ripped a shot from just outside the box.

In the 16th minute, Boston had another scoring opportunity, set up by recent call-up Sophia Mundy. The ball came to the top of the box to Mundy, who flicked it off her back heal and right to Amy Rodriguez, who cut in and put a shot on goal. But McLeod managed to tip the ball over the net. Mundy turned in an impressive performance for Boston in her first WPS start.

“Being out there, it’s just a great feeling. I think I’ve come a long way. Tony’s been patient, and I’ve been working hard in practices,” Mundy said. “I finally got on the field, so it’s a relief. I feel like I earned something, Your first WPS game, there’s always a little bit of nervousness, but I tried to relax and talk to a lot of the girls about what I need to do offensively and defensively. I knew that I needed to possess the ball and keep possession for our team.”

The victory was a huge one for Boston, which passed Washington in the standings. The Breakers improved to 5-4-3 (18 points) and are in sole possession of second place. They have the weekend off before getting back into action July 4 at Sky Blue FC, a team they lost to (2-1) back on May 31 in New Jersey. Coming away with a 2-1-1 mark after the four games in 11 days sat well with head coach Tony DiCicco.

“I thought it was a very good performance, especially considering it was our fourth game in 11 days. We played Sunday in the heat and humidity. The players were drained, but they came with a lot of incentive to do well,” he said. “I’ve been telling them that we’re not far off. It’s the little things that make the big difference. I thought the first half was our best soccer both from a defensive standpoint and an offensive standpoint because this Washington team is a good team.”

The Breakers managed to hold off Washington in the second half even when Abby Wambach came off the bench and sparked the Freedom attack. Wambach didn’t start due to a recent injury, but her presence alone when she came onto the pitch in the 54th minute changed the pace of the game and tested Boston’s back line.

“We knew she was coming in. I thought she was going to start the second half, so we were prepared for it,” DiCicco said. “I thought they would move (Sonia) Bompastor into the midfield, where she’s such a good player. We put Kristine Lilly on her, and Lil did a really good job not letting her get in. She still got some dangerous service in, but we didn’t let her get in. I thought that was Kristine Lilly’s best defensive game in a long time.”

Following the game, a frustrated Wambach said she felt like she could’ve played the full 90 minutes, but didn’t want to risk further injury to her hamstring, which she tweaked last weekend against St. Louis.

“Unfortunately I think me not starting puts us on our heels and puts us in a defensive mindset, and it’s hard to break that once the game gets going,” Wambach said. “Boston’s a great team. They’ve got a lot of different threats, and it’s hard to defend 90 minutes against all the different players on the field – Kelly Smith, Kristine Lilly, Alex Scott.”

Washington had three solid scoring opportunities in the final 30 minutes, but Lipsher came up big. She leaped up to save a shot off the foot Rebecca Moros in the 60th minute, and then in the 85th minute, Lipsher snagged a blast from Lori Lindsey. Lipsher’s biggest save of the game came in stoppage time. Japanese international Homare Sawa put a shot on goal, which Lipsher tipped up high off her fingertips. She then caught the ball inches before the goalline.

“It was near the line, but it wasn’t anywhere close to going in,” Lipsher said. “I had it covered.”