Mia Hamm reached another milestone Wednesday, scoring her 150th international goal as the U.S. women's national team rallied for a 3-1 victory over Australia in Blaine, Minn.

Hamm chipped the ball over Matildas goalkeeper Cassandra Kell and into the upper-right corner in the 76th minute for the go-ahead goal as the Americans improved to 2-0-0 this year against teams it will face in the first stage of next month's Olympic tournament in Greece.

Shannon Boxx and Abby Wambach also scored second-half goals for the U.S. women, who overcame an early deficit before a sellout crowd of 10,276 at the National Sports Center.

The game was a preview of sorts of the Aug. 17 showdown in Thessaloniki, Greece, the Group G finale at the Athens Olympics. The Americans beat Brazil, another first-round foe, in April.

''There were 10 or 12 things on our list that we wanted to get out of this game, and we saw a few of tonight,'' U.S. coach April Heinrichs said. ''We had to come from behind, which was not in the plan, but having to face the adversity of giving up an early goal was good for the team.

''We got to play in a 4-3-3 system, and I really liked our methodic approach to the second half. We were looking at the chemistry of a lot of players in their secondary positions, and they did really well dealing with a young, high energy Australian team.''

The Americans started with a decidedly second-tier team, missing Hamm, Boxx, Wambach, captain Julie Foudy and ailing Joy Fawcett from their starting lineup. All except Fawcett came on at halftime, and the Americans were in charge the final 45 minutes.

Australia, using a young lineup, was the more dangerous team early, and it paid off right away. Danielle Small slipped past U.S. defender Heather Mitts at the top of the left side of the American box in the fifth minute, took a lob from Heather Garriock and chipped it to the top-right corner.

''I really was [disappointed to lose the shutout],'' said goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who grew up in nearby Dayton, Minn. ''I knew on the goal that the way she hit it, there was no way I was going to get there. It has been awhile since I've gotten a shutout, but I'll take the win over that any day.''

The Aussies struggled to stay with the Americans after the halftime changes, and Boxx netted the equalizer off a corner kick in the 56th minute, her first goal in nine games.

It came from a Hamm corner kick from the left, with Boxx — in traffic, just beyond the far post — getting her head to the cross. The ball appeared to deflect off a defender en route to the net.

Hamm scored her goal in the 76th minute, taking a pass from Heather O'Reilly, zig-zagging vs. Aussie captain Cheryl Salisbury, then flicking the ball to the upper-right.

She ran to the U.S. bench to celebrate, then to the center circle to retrieve the ball, which she said she wanted to have signed by her teammates.

''It felt good,'' said Hamm, who says the Athens Olympics will be her final major event, although she is expected to play in the U.S. women's planned post-Olympic tour. ''I had my chances earlier on and my teammates were setting me up really well. Prior to [the goal], Abby gave me a great ball that I probably should have hit first time and didn't. But I got the ball [from O'Reilly], and the 'keeper was out on her six, and I was able to get it over her head.

''When I was getting closer to this [150-goal mark], I realized that one of the things I wanted to do before I quit playing was hit 150, and I was able to do that. Now I can concentrate on what I need to do for us to win in Athens.''

Wambach added an insurance goal, from an O'Reilly cross that tied defender Sacha Wainwright in knots, in the 81st minute.

''Our ability to come back in the second half like that shows that we have offensive firepower,'' said Scurry, making her first U.S. start and second appearance in front of her hometown fans. ''The fact that we were shored up in the back and shut them out the rest of the way [after Small's goal] was good.

''We haven't played Australia in almost two years, so it is good to see where they are and gauge where we are because they are in our group [at the Olympics].''

The match was Australia's final tuneup before the Olympic women's soccer tournament begins Aug. 11. The U.S. women will meet China on Aug. 1 in Hartford, Conn., before trekking to Greece.

WEDNESDAY'S SUMMARY
July 21 at Blaine, Minn.

United States 3 Australia 1. Goals: Boxx 56, Hamm 76, Wambach 81; Small 5.

United States — Scurry; Mitts, Markgraf, Reddick, Rampone; Wagner (O'Reilly, 71), Chastain (Boxx, 46), Hucles (Foudy, 46); Parlow (Hamm, 46), Tarpley (Wambach, 46), Lilly.

Australia — Kell; Davies (Reuter, 89), Alagich, Salisbury, Wainwright; Foster (Kuralay, 62), Karp (Slatyer, 57), Garriock (Ledbrook, 85); Peters, Walsh (De Vanna, 79), Small.

Yellow cards: United States — Markgraf 17, Parlow 26; Australia — Alagich 78.

Referee: Terry Vaughn (U.S.).

Att.:

U.S. WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM
2004 SCHEDULE

Four Nations
Jan. 30 at Shenzhen, China: United States 3 (Boxx 13, Tarpley 51, 66) Sweden 0
Feb. 1 at Shenzhen, China: United States 0 China 0
Feb. 3 at Shenzhen, China: United States 2 (Tarpley 13, Fawcett pen. 81) Canada 0

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Feb. 25 at San Jose, Costa Rica: United States 7 (Boxx 22, 37, 81, Lilly 25, Hamm 41, 44, Wambach 42) Trinidad & Tobago 0
Feb. 27 at Heredia, Costa Rica: United States 8 (Wagner 12, Parlow 17, 73, 87, own goal Fenelon 41, MacMillan 47, Tarpley 63, Wambach 81) Haiti 0
Feb. 29 at San Jose, Costa Rica: United States 2 (own goal Castillo 10, Wambach 26) Mexico 0
March 3 at San Jose, Costa Rica: United States 4 (Wagner 5, Wambach 26, Lilly 29, Boxx 51) Costa Rica 0
March 5 at Heredia, Costa Rica: United States 3 (Tarpley 45, Wambach 79, Foudy 84) Mexico 2 (Dominguez 9, 15)

Algarve Cup
March 14 at Ferreiras, Portugal: United States 5 (Wambach 16, Hamm pen. 27, Hucles 31, 33, Tarpley 47) France 1 (Bompastor 48)
March 16 at Quarteira, Portugal: United States 1 (Hucles 61) Denmark 0
March 18 at Lagos, Portugal: United States 1 (Reddick 85) Sweden 3 (Andersson 34, Oqvist 48, 56)
March 20 at Faro, Portugal: United States 4 (Wambach 30, 39, 51, Tarpley 42) Norway 1 (Riise 38)

Friendlies
April 24 at Birmingham, Ala.: United States 5 (Foudy 13, Wambach 31, 42, Welsh 86, Hamm 87) Brazil 1 (Marta 55)
May 9 at Albuquerque, N.M.: United States 3 (Parlow 52, Hamm 64, Chalupny 87) Mexico 0
June 6 at Louisville, Ky.: United States 1 (Wambach 59) Japan 1 (Arakawa 20)
July 3 at Nashville, Tenn.: United States 1 (Mitts 73) Canada 0
July 21 at Blaine, Minn.: United States 3 (Boxx 56, Hamm 76, Wambach 81) Australia 1 (Small 5)
Aug. 1 at Hartford, Conn.: vs. China at Retschler Field, 3 p.m. EDT; TV: ESPN2 (live)

Athens Olympics
Aug. 11: at Heraklio, Greece: vs. Greece at Pankritio Stadium, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT); TV: TBA
Aug. 14 at Thessaloniki, Greece: vs. Brazil at Kaftanzoglio Stadium, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT); TV: TBA
Aug. 17 at Thessaloniki, Greece: vs. Australia at Kaftanzoglio Stadium, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT); TV: TBA
Aug. 20 at TBA: Quarterfinals in Patras, Thessaloniki, Heraklio and Volos, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT) or 9 p.m. EEST (2 p.m. EDT); TV: TBA
Aug. 23 at Heraklio or Patras, Greece: Semifinals at Pankritio Stadium, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT) or at Pampeloponnisiako Stadium, 9 p.m. EEST (2 p.m. EDT)
Aug. 26 at Athens, Greece: Gold/Bronze matches at Karaiskaki Stadium, 6 p.m. EEST (11 a.m. EDT) and 9 p.m. EEST (2 p.m. EDT); TV: TBA

U.S. in 2004: 14-1-2.