FOXBOROUGH - Shannon MacMillan was the shining light of the 1996 Olympics, scoring the ''Golden Goal'' against Norway in the semifinals that sent America into the gold-medal game. Tisha Venturini has glowed throughout her career, too, scoring the first US goals in both the '95 World Cup and the '96 Games. They are used to being starters, used to being stars, used to lighting up the field when the game is on the line and nothing less than heroics will do.
They haven't been starting in this Cup, though, victims - albeit understanding, accepting ones - of the US team's unrivaled depth.
''It's not every day you have players on the bench who have over 100 caps,'' said goalkeeper Briana Scurry.
But last night, the stars were back in alignment. With DiCicco resting four of his regular starters, both MacMillan and Venturini began the game. Neither went unnoticed, MacMillan breaking a scoreless tie when she drilled a goal in the 56th minute, Venturini adding a pair in the 68th and 76th and embellishing the second with a double backflip for emphasis.
''I'm very proud of them,'' said Scurry.
MacMillan, whose three Olympic goals led the team in '96, couldn't help but be a little proud of herself last night, or at least of her efforts to regain a starting role. ''I like to have my actions speak louder than my words, because I think Tony [DiCicco, the US coach] respects that a lot more,'' said the 25-year-old forward out of the University of Portland who was the 1995 Soccer America Player of the Year. ''And I think I showed tonight I needed more time.''
It's too soon, said DiCicco, to know if he'll be able to give it to her. ''We have a player named Mia Hamm,'' DiCicco explained. ''We have a player named Tiffeny Millbrett. We have a player named Cindy Parlow. They're pretty outstanding players, too. We'd love to play with forwards all over the field, but I probably wouldn't have a job very long if we did that.''
Nonetheless, he had plenty of praise for the player who, he said, possesses the hardest shot on the team. ''Her ball moves,'' said DiCicco. ''You can see when she plays a corner kick across the face of the goal it's a laser, and every time she hits a shot on goal it's a moving pea the goalkeeper has to deal with.''
Scurry, who faces her every day in practice, agrees. ''The ball moves around, it knuckles, it dips,'' she said. ''I feel bad for the other goalkeeper. I mean today, that ball totally dipped before it got to that keeper.''
Whatever happens, MacMillan plans to stay the course, emotionally as well as otherwise. If a reserve is what she is, she'll be the best, most supportive, readiest one around. ''I'm ready to do whatever it takes to help this team win,'' she said, ''whether it's starting or coming off the bench or not playing at all.''
DiCicco said he appreciates the class MacMillan and Venturini have brought to their diminished roles. ''It's hard,'' he acknowledged. ''They're stars. They're professionals. I think they want to be out there every minute and it's very difficult. That's why I respect and admire them as much as I do, because I bleed for them. Tisha has not had a lot of time this year, yet she's stayed positive and she's brought into the game today and her and Shannon were our key personalities on the field and got it done for us. I can't tell you how much I admire the fact they can do that.''
