U.S. Women Continue to Roll

The American kids are taking over. At this rate the United States women’s hockey squad will be known as Teen USA.

Natalie Darwitz, 18, had a hat trick Saturday in the United States’ 5-0 victory over Finland.

She’s part of a brigade of young players making a name for themselves , including fast-talking, fast-moving forward Julie Chu, 19, solid defenseman Lyndsay Wall, 16, and Krissy Wendell, a magician with the puck who turned 20 in September.

“They’re fantastic,” said teammate A.J. Mleczko, 27. “It’s phenomenal. I guess amazing is a good word. Every once in a while, you step back and you think how young they are. That makes you kind of appreciate where they are. I hate to put pressure on them, but I expect miracles out of them.”

Will she settle for impressive if she can’t get miraculous? Darwitz leads the team with six goals in three games. Wendell has three assists and a goal and Chu has two goals and two assists.

It was the first time the U.S. played Finland since the 2001 World Championships. Finland put up the best fight the Americans have seen here, and even outshot the U.S. for the first half of the opening period.

But the Finns were more impressed by the overall skill level of the U.S. team than ever before.

“They were not this good last year,” said Finland forward Hanne Sikio. “I think they’re much better.”

Part of that can be attributed to the emergence of the young players. But don’t forget about the 14 returning members of the 1998 gold-medal team. On Thursday, Cammi Granato had a hat trick against China. Saturday it was goaltender Sara DeCosta. She made 21 saves to record her second shutout of these Olympics.

DeCosta was at her best when she made three saves during a two-man advantage for Finland in the first period.

DeCosta even picked up an assist off another penalty-killing save in the first. The long rebound came out to Angela Ruggiero, who had just stepped out of the penalty box. Ruggiero zipped down the ice, but was upended by Finland’s Emma Laaksonen. Darwitz was right there to shoot the puck and score her second goal.

Darwitz seemed to be everywhere on Saturday. It was impossible not to notice her, even though she’s only 5 feet 2.

“People say I’m young and I’m small,” Darwitz said. “But I’ve been on this team for three years now. Size doesn’t have a lot to do with the women’s game. I just go hard and use my speed.”

Her hockey’s so advanced, she probably needs more assistance with her high school correspondence courses than her game. That’s when it helps to have so many Ivy Leaguers on the team.

“If I have questions, I go to the Harvard kids and say, ‘Help me out here,’” Darwitz said.

It’s a nice blend, on and off the ice.

“I think the best thing about our team is the balance between the veterans and the rookies,” said Chu.

“The veterans bring a maturity and experience to our game that’s beyond any of our imagination. They bring a lot of control. The younger kids bring a high level of skill, along with the eager enthusiasm with it being our first time out there.”

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Germany 5, China 5--Michaela Lanzl had two goals, as Germany scored three straight third-period goals to tie China. The tie gave Germany (0-2-1) the third seed in Group B--and a matchup with winless Kazakhstan. China will face Russia (1-2) for a chance to play in the fifth-place game. Both teams are out of medal contention.

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Canada 11, Sweden 0--Jennifer Botterill scored twice, and Jayna Hefford had a goal and three assists to lead Canada into the medal round with a shutout of Sweden. Canada will play Finland and Sweden will play the U.S. in the semifinals Tuesday. That sets up a potential gold-medal matchup Thursday between the Americans and Canadians.

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Associated Press was used in compiling this report.