U.S. women

Boxx's hat trick leads 7-0 romp over T&T to open Olympic qualifying.

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Wednesday, February 25, 2004) - The United States women scored six times in a 22-minute span to close the first-half, routing Trinidad & Tobago 7-0 to open Group A play in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament before 750 at Estadio Nacional this afternoon

Midfielder Shannon Boxx recorded three goals for the first time in her international career, as well as an assist, while striker Mia Hamm had two goals and two assists in the romp. Forward Abby Wambach contributed a goal and two assists while midfielder Kristine Lilly had one goal and one assist.

The U.S. next faces Haiti Friday and closes group play against Mexico Sunday. In today's second Group A match, Mexico dropped Haiti 5-0. The top two teams in Group A and Group B advance to the semifinals. Both semifinal winners earn berths in the Summer Olympics in Athens.

"I'm really pleased with our team's approach to this game," U.S. coach April Heinrichs said. "We've worked hard for the last few weeks and they got rewarded for that. They were determined to play patient soccer, to mix it up and be very unpredictable. Obviously, there was a spurt of goals in the middle of the first half where we showed we could be dangerous from both flanks, from the run of play and from set plays, so it becomes very difficult for a team to shut us down."

While it took the Americans 22 minutes to crack the scoresheet, they were in total control throughout, outshooting T&T 27-1, 18-1 on frame.

T&T came out in a 4-5-1 formation and was committed to hard tackling and low-pressure defense on the hot, dry field, but the Americans stayed patient. In the 22nd minute, Wambach headed a left-side cross back to Boxx whose hit an 18-yard shot on hirst first touch into the net's left corner for a 1-0 lead.

"At the 20-minute mark, we really settled in and just kept pursuing scoring opportunities in variety of ways and eventually we broke through." Heinrichs said.

Three minutes later, Lilly notched her 94th career international goal, taking a Hamm's touch from a crowd and lacing a left-footed drive from 30 yards past goalkeeper Nicole Mitchell and into the left corner, making it 2-0.

Trinidad's only shot came in the 33rd minute when Tasha St. Louis stripped a U.S. defender and sent fellow midfielder Jinelle James free into the left side of the penalty area. James shot hard at the near post, but U.S. keeper Briana Scurry coolly pushed the blast away for a corner kick.

Boxx added her second goal of the game in the 37th minute, slicing through traffic to head home Hamm's corner kick from five yards out.

Boxx returned the favor in the 41st minute, lofting a ball over the defense to Hamm, who gathered herself at the top of the penalty area and then drilled a full volley into the left corner from 18 yards, leaving Mitchell flat-footed and making the score 4-0.

One minute later, Lilly drive a corner kick into the box and a slashing Wambach powered a header into the roof of the net from close range for a 5-0 advantage with 16th international goal in 26 games.

In the 44th minute, midfielder Lindsay Tarpley freed Wambach into the left side of the penalty area with a well-timed pass. Wambach carried to goal, then rolled a pass across the goal mouth to a sliding Hamm, who touched the ball into the net at the far post from two yards out for her record 146th career international goal. The last three goals of the first half came on consecutive shots. "It was a great start to the tournament for us because the last time we played T&T, they packed it in so deep, that we had trouble solving their bunker," Heinrichs said. "They still have great closing speed and organization, but part of the difference today was that they came out away from their goal and we were just dynamic in the attacking third." Heinrichs started almost the same lineup that she used predominately to win the Four Nations Tournament in China in January, inserting Hamm, who skipped the tournament for Shannon MacMillan. Heinrichs made two substitutions at halftime, sending on Aly Wagner and Leslie Osborne.

Four minutes into the second half, Canadian referee Jillian Proctor stopped the match and, after consultation with the fourth official, issued yellow cards to both subs, saying they had not checked into the match properly. A player who receives two yellow cards in this tournament earn a one-game suspension,

Osborne had a scary moment in the 60th minute on a wild sequence that started when MacMillan, who had just come on seconds earlier for Wambach, cracked a bending free kick from the top left of the box off the bottom of the crossbar. The ball bounced high and as Osborne challenged for it, she knocked heads with St. Louis.

Osborne got the worse of the collision, suffering a gushing, bloody, two-inch gash on her forehead, requiring six stitches above her left eye. The U.S. had already made its three substitutions so it played with 10 players for the next 21 minutes until repairs could be made. With a large bandage around her head, Osborne returned to play the final five minutes of regulation and four minutes of stoppage time.

The match got a bit nasty in the second half with tiring Trinidadians committing some hard fouls.

Boxx completed her hat trick in the 81st minute. Lilly drove a long cross from the left flank over a packed defense to Hamm in the right side of the penalty area. Hamm collected the ball, sliced past a defender and with a good angle to shoot with her left foot, laid the ball back to Wagner. In full stride, Wagner cracked a shot that was deflected off a defender's leg, off the crossbar and then rebounded to the top of the penalty area. There, Boxx drilled a first-time shot from the right side of the penalty arc into the left corner of the net.

With her first multiple-goal game, Boxx now has eight goals in 13 appearances for her nation. "I was really just in the right place at the right time today," she said. "Once we build a big lead, one thing we know is never to get comfortable. . . We wanted the shutout. We wanted to make sure defensively, we stayed solid."

Patricia Perez scored the first three goals while Maribel Dominguez added two tallies after the 80th minute in Mexico's triumph over Haiti.

Championship
Semifinal winners, 9 p.m.