Cindy Parlow scored her second straight hat trick and Mia Hamm assisted on two goals as the U.S. women’s national team routed New Zealand, 5-0, in the Pacific Cup in Sydney, Australia, on June 4. Hamm’s assists, on Parlow’s first and last goals, gave her 101 for her career. However, assists are unofficial statistics at the international level. Parlow is just the second U.S. women’s player, after Hamm, to score hat tricks in consecutive games. “All three of my goals came from team play,” said Parlow. “People made great runs, we had great buildup and tremendous passes into me. Some were harder to miss than to make.” U.S. head coach April Heinrichs chose to rest six regular starters, giving the nod to Aly Wagner, Nikki Serlenga, Danielle Slaton, Christie Pearce, Sara Whalen and Christie Welsh, who scored the first two goals of the game to increase her career total to nine in just 12 matches. Heinrichs did not use any substitutes. The understandably over-matched New Zealand team was on the defense the entire game as the Americans fired 36 shots at the Kiwi net. At the start of the game, the entire New Zealand starting lineup totaled just 171 caps and 31 career goals. Hamm has 194 appearances and 118 goals by herself. Hamm, who captained the team, looked extremely sharp as she sliced through the New Zealand defense to fire nine shots, but as in the 9-1 win over against Canada, could not find the net. Still, she set up the first goal with a cross from the left side. Parlow jumped for the ball, but it flew over her and the defender’s head, bouncing to the unmarked Welsh, who popped her shot into the upper right corner of the net from close range. “Sometimes the game is very generous and sometimes the game is very stingy,” added Parlow. “It’s being generous to me right now and not so generous to Mia, but obviously that can change at any moment and I can be the one hitting the post or the goalkeeper. I just want to step on the field and control what I can control. If the goals come, great, if not, I know someone else will score.” New Zealand rarely crossed the midfield stripe during the game, and forced U.S. goalkeeper Siri Mullinix to handle the ball just three times. Often playing with 11 women behind the ball, New Zealand left little space for the U.S. attack, but quick passing and liberal use of the width enabled the Americans to consistently find a way through, or around, the Kiwi bunker. The U.S. hit the woodwork several times during the match as Hamm struck the outside of the right post on a breakaway in the 20th minute and Shannon MacMillan rattled the crossbar from 30 yards in the 41st. Brandi Chastain also just missed a spectacular strike when her quickly taken free-kick from 35 yards out in the 26th minute flew just inches over the upper right corner of the goal. In the 29th minute, Welsh played a one-two with Parlow at the top of the penalty box, then powered her way through New Zealand defender Maia Jackman and shoved her shot through the legs of the charging goalkeeper Yvonne Vale to make it 2-0. Parlow started her hat trick in the 33rd minute. Wagner played a ball to her at the top of the penalty box on the right side. Parlow lost the ball momentarily, but a New Zealand player played the ball back to her and she smacked a dipping 18-yard shot cross-keeper into the lower left corner. The thundering Welsh was denied her hat trick just two minutes into the second half as her point-blank shot was cleared off the goal line by Zania Cogle. Parlow got her second of the match in the 52nd minute. MacMillan started the sequence, dancing her way through the New Zealand defense and playing the ball to Slaton wide left. Slaton’s cross on the ground found Parlow cutting to the near post, but her first shot was well-saved by Vale. The ball bounced back to Parlow and she stroked the rebound into the left side of the net from six yards out. “We’ve been working really hard on possessing the ball, playing quickly and making chances appear rather than forcing them,” said U.S. head coach April Heinrichs. “I was very pleased to score nine goals against Canada and five tonight. What was most impressive after the Canada game was that all nine goals were assisted, which was indicative of unselfish and thoughtful play. We saw that against New Zealand as well.” Hamm picked up her 101st career assist in the 56th minute when she ran down a ball in the left corner, drew Jackman to her, and then cleanly nutmegged the over-committed defender. Hamm dribbled straight down the endline almost to the goalpost before playing a short pass in the slot for Parlow to jam into the roof of the net from four yards out. Parlow upper her career international total to 36 goals and is the leading scorer in the Pacific Cup with six goals after three matches. “This is a testing ground for us,” added Heinrichs. “If we can score goals and have confidence, as coaches, we can create an environment where they are happy, creative, enjoying themselves and playing with a lot of passion. Then we feel we can run at any team in the world.” China, which also rested numerous starters, overcame a scrappy Japanese team to win 2-0 and hold its lead in the tournament standings. Australia did not show the same magic as it had in taking China to penalty kicks on June 2, falling to Canada, 2-0. The Americans must now hope for a Canadian victory over China on Thursday, combined with U.S. wins over Japan and Australia, to win the Pacific Cup. “We’re still pursuing the tournament championship,” said Heinrichs. “We know we will need some help from another team to beat China, but if China loses, we want to be in the best place to move from second to first.” The U.S. team will face Japan on Thursday, June 8, at Breakers Stadium (6:00 p.m. local/4:00 a.m. ET). Pacific Cup June 4 in Sydney United States 5, New Zealand. Goals: Welsh 11, 29, Parlow 33, 52, 56. USA — Mullinix, Chastain, Slaton, Pearce, Whalen, Serlenga, Wagner, MacMillan, Welsh, Parlow, Hamm. New Zealand — Vaile, Simpson (McCahill, 53), Corner, Ruscoe (Robertson, 63), Smith, Henderson (Cox, 80), Ferrara, Crawford, Oliver (Jackman, 16), Ormond (Cogle, 45), Oostdam. Ref.: Sheena Storrie (Australia). Att.: 3,947. 2000 Pacific Cup Standings Team GP W L T GF GA P China 3 3 0 0 4 1 9 USA 3 2 1 0 14 2 6 Canada 3 2 1 0 5 10 6 Australia 3 1 1 1 2 3 3 Japan 3 1 2 0 2 4 3 New Zealand 3 0 3 0 2 9 0 2000 Pacific Cup Results May 31 Canada 2, New Zealand 1 China 1, USA 0 Australia 1, Japan 0 June 2 Japan 2, New Zealand 1 (OT) USA 9, Canada 1 China 1, Australia 1 (China wins 5-4 on penalties.) June 4 China 2, Japan 0 USA 5, New Zealand 0 Canada 2, Australia 0 June 7 Australia vs. New Zealand June 8 China vs. Canada USA vs. Japan June 10 Canada vs. Japan China vs. New Zealand June 11 USA vs. Australia