U.S. women crush Scotland

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Powered by hat tricks from Mia Hamm and WUSA Rookie of the Year Abby Wambach, the United States beat Scotland, 8-2, on Sunday in an exhibition.

The warmup match was the first between the Americans, who begin World Cup qualifying in October, and Scotland, an emerging European team.

The Americans hemmed in Scotland consistently and ran away when the European side wilted in the 95-degree heat.

For a time, Scotland looked like it would give the U.S. more of a match than expected as the two sides went into the locker rooms tied, 2-2, despite a slow performance from the Europeans.