The hosts, Italy, were dominant in their opening game of the 2026 Olympic women's hockey tournament outplaying, outshooting, and outscoring France for an important win.
The hosts, Italy, moved one step closer to their goal of a spot in the 2026 Olympic quarterfinals with an important win over France to open the tournament in front of a large Italian home crowd.
After Gabrielle de Serres opened the scoring for France on the power play, it was all Italy.
Exactly one minute later, Italian captain Nadia Mattivi carried the puck below the goal line before making a perfect pass to a waiting Kayla Tutino out front who scored to even the game at 1-1.
In the second frame, Kristin Della Rovere carried the puck in down the right wing firing a low shot off Alice Philbert's pad in France's crease. The rebound was collected by Rebecca Roccella who beat Philbert high to give the Italian's a 2-1 lead.
Italy continued to pile on the chances and only 14 seconds into the third period, Penn State forward Matilde Fantin scored to make it 3-1 Italy, with Kristin Della Rovere extending the lead to 4-1 Italy beating Philbert under the bar from a sharp angle.
Italy dominated the play from start to finish in every metric outshooting France 46-15.
9,356 were in attendance at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena to see the game.