Tiffeny Milbrett scored a hat trick and Mia Hamm added two goals and four assists as the U.S. women’s national team steamrolled Argentina 8-1 before a sellout crowd at Fullerton’s Titan Stadium April 24. Argentina actually opened the scoring, shocking the standing-room only crowd with a magnificent goal on its first attack just four minutes into the match. Noemi Morales lost a defender at the top of the penalty box and rolled a pass to Maria Villanueva, who took a touch and cracked her shot into the roof of the net from 10 yards out. The goal provided a wake-up call for the U.S., which responded just three minutes later with an equalizer. Hamm put Kristine Lilly behind the Argentine defense on the left flank, and Lilly bent a hard cross on the ground into the middle where Milbrett ran onto the ball and first-timed it into the left side of the net from 12 yards out. Just two minutes later, Hamm found Milbrett behind the defense on the right side of the penalty box, where the former University of Portland all-America slotted a shot under charging Argentina keeper Liliana Torres to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead. Michelle Akers scored the third U.S. goal in the 38th minute, when she volleyed home a cross from Hamm for her 95th international goal. Hamm did well in setting up the goal, as she ran down the ball deep in the left corner before spinning and crossing to Akers at the far post. Another fine pass from Hamm helped Milbrett strike again in the 51st minute, cracking a shot into the right corner from 10 yards out to complete the hat trick — the first of her international career “It was wonderful game for the team,” said Milbrett afterward. “We were all pretty sharp coming off a week of training camp and my finishing was definitely on today. To get three goals in front of such a great crowd was awesome. We got a feel for what the atmosphere will be like for the World Cup in 1999.” U.S. coach Tony DiCicco made three substitutions in the 57th minutes, and new entries Sara Whalen and Debbie Keller combined for the fifth U.S. goal two minutes later. Whalen broke free down the left flank and hammered a cross to the near post, where Keller first-timed the ball into the roof of the net from three yards. Hamm tallied in the 66th minute, volleying home a cross from Justi Baumgardt, and three minutes later, she beat a defender to pull the Argentine keeper to the near post before sending a pass back to Keller, who let the ball run through her legs and flicked it into the goal with her heel to make it 7-1. Hamm capped a brilliant evening by scoring the final goal in the 87th minute, blasting a shot into the open net from close range after winning a bouncing ball in the penalty box. “I was very pleased with the match and the team put on a great show for the crowd,” said U.S. Head Coach Tony DiCicco, who saw his team out-shoot the South Americans, 32-3. “I know Argentina will continue to improve, but today, the U.S. was entertaining, committed and creative for 90 minutes. We produced some great goals and I think we gained some confidence for the games to come this year.” The two teams will meet again April 26 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif. at 12:30 p.m. (PT). The match will be shown live on ESPN. April 24 in Fullerton, Calif. USA 8 Argentina 1. Goals: Milbrett 7, 9, Akers 38, Milbrett 51, Keller 59, Hamm 66, Keller 69, Hamm 87; Villanueva 4. USA — Ducar (Scurry, 46), Overbeck, Chastain, Pearce, Fawcett (Whalen, 57), Foudy (Baumgardt, 57), Akers (Keller, 57), MacMillan, Lilly (Venturini, 46), Milbrett, Hamm. Argentina — Torres, Arce, Luporini, Peralta (Ramos, 57), Jaimerena, Achaval (Altamirano, 71), Gerez, Gaitan (Lopez, 46), Morales, Baca (Soloman, 64), Villlanueva. Yellow cards: Argentina — Arce 28, Baca 34, Ramos 73, Gerez 90. Referee: Nancy Lay. Att.: 10,099 (sellout).