WASHINGTON--The Washington Freedom remained unbeaten yesterday, but it wasn't thanks to a victory.

The Freedom had to settle for a 1-1 tie with the Atlanta Beat in a WUSA game that followed the U.S.-Canada international match at RFK Stadium.

The Freedom's record is now 3-0-1. Washington's star, Mia Hamm, sat out for 62 minutes after having played 60 minutes for the U.S. team hours earlier.

The game was a defensive battle with neither team scoring through 67 minutes.

Atlanta's Maribel Dominguez of Mexico opened scoring with a shot from 25 yards out. Forty seconds after her celebration, however, Hamm made her presence known.

She crossed a ball into the box. Atlanta midfielder Marci Miller headed the ball away from goal, and the Freedom's new addition, Kelly Golebiowski of Australia, blasted a powerful kick from 35 yards away to score.

"Statistics tell you, you're vulnerable right after scoring a goal," Atlanta coach Tom Stone said. "I think we went a little too aggressive on Mia when she came down the line. After the deflection, I thought it would be too hard for Washington to get a shot back. But [Golebiowski] just scorched it."

Golebiowski, 21, was obtained by the Freedom this season as an international discovery player and is a leading young scorer for her national team.

Her goal yesterday followed three good scoring opportunities by Atlanta, only one of which produced a goal.

Atlanta earned a penalty shot in the 15th minute after Freedom keeper Siri Mullinix collided with Dominguez. Nikki Serlenga took the close-range penalty shot and belted it to the right, but Mullinix got her hands on it and made a diving save to avenge her foul.

"Nikki is usually excellent with penalty shots. She gets 90 percent of those," Stone said.

Another near score for Atlanta came in the 65th minute, when forward Abby Crumpton took a shot that got past Mullinix but nicked the left crossbar.

The Freedom lost a likely point as well. Shortly before the half, a strong shot on goal by Lori Lindsey was not counted due to an offsides call.