USA's Jenny Potter had a hat trick in her team's 12-1 win over China. (Luis Acosta/Getty Images)It wasn't as lopsided as Canada's first win at the Vancouver Games, but the United States had a strong outing to open its preliminary round of the women's hockey tournament, beating China 12-1.
Jenny Potter scored three goals in the first 22 minutes on Sunday to become the leading scorer in American Olympic hockey history.
Meghan Duggan added another two goals for the Americans, who were expected to prevail, handily, over a weak team, just as Canada handled Slovakia 18-0 on Saturday.
"It was a great way for us to start the tournament for a lot of reasons," U.S. head coach Mark Johnson said.
"Our young players got to go out for their first Olympic experience in front of a great crowd and face good opposition. I'm encouraged by the way we got started and look forward to our next game against Russia."
China didn't get on the board until Jin Fengling scored on a power play with 2:21 left in the third period.
It took less than three minutes for the U.S. to get on the board, when four-time Olympian Angela Ruggiero intercepted a pass in the neutral zone, skated around a defender and slipped the puck through the pads of China's goalie, Yao Shi.
The Americans were all over the Chinese net, with 61 shots. China only mustered seven shots on net.
