Matilde Fantin and host nation Italy kicked off its home campaign in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics against France on Thursday.
Behind a strong offensive attack and outshooting the French 46-15, Fantin and Italy put on a show for their home crowd against the French, winning the game 4-1 and putting themselves in an optimal position to advance into the quarterfinals.
Alice Philbert started between the pipes for France, while Martina Fedel got the start for the Italians.
Puck dropped with both sides easing into the contest, slowly putting pressure on both goaltenders.
France got the first blow ten minutes into the first period on the power play, with forward Gabrielle de Serres putting the puck past Fedel to give the Italians a 1-0 advantage early.
It was all Italy from there. Exactly one minute later, Italian captain Nadia Mattivi delivered an accurate pass to forward Kayla Tutino, who equalized the contest for the Italians 1-1.
As the second period began, the Italians started to dominate puck possession and had complete control over the neutral zone. In the closing minutes of the second period, Kristin Della Rovere carried the puck into the French zone and fired a shot that went off Philbert’s pad. Rebecca Rocella took advantage of the opportunity and slotted the rebound into the back of the net, giving the Italians a 2-1 advantage going into the final frame.
Just 14 seconds into the third period, Penn State’s own Matilde Fantin recorded her first-ever Olympic goal, unassisted, giving the Italians a 3-1 lead.
Four minutes later, Delle Rovere made up for her first opportunity in the second period, as she scored the fourth goal of the day for the Italians, assisted by Anna Caumo.
The Italians controlled the remainder of the contest, giving the French no chance to mount a comeback as Italy prevailed 4-1, giving them all three possible points.
Up Next
The Italians look ahead to their Group B match against Sweden at 8:40 a.m. EST on Saturday.
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