Winter Olympics: Czech women cap debut with 3-1 win over hosts China

Beijing: Michaela Pejzlova scored on a breakaway with 13:33 left in the third period, and the Czech Republic capped their women’s hockey Olympic debut with a 3-1 win over host China at the Beijing Games on Thursday.

Tereza Radova became her nation’s first female to score in the Olympics by redirecting defender Aneta Tejralova’s pass into the slot to open the scoring 10:38 into a game the Czech Republic never trailed. Denisa Krizova also scored and Klara Peslarova stopped 13 shots in a Group B preliminary round game to open the tournament a day before the opening ceremony.

China was out-shot 36-14 in its fourth Olympic appearance, and first since finishing seventh of eight teams at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Mi Le scored and Canadian-born goalie Tiya Chen stopped 33 shots for a Chinese national team made up of mostly members of the Russian-based Women’s Hockey League’s Vanke Rays.

The defending champion United States opens the tournament later in the day against Finland.

With the Czech Republic up 2-1, Pejzlova secured the win by beating Chen through the legs after being set up by a blue-line-to-blue-line pass from Pavlina Horalkova.

The Czech women’s development program has received a big boost from players attending US colleges. Five players on the current roster, including Vermont’s Pejzlova, are attending NCAA schools, following in the footsteps of captain Alena Mills, who previously played at Brown.

Le cut the Czech Republic’s lead with a power-play goal from the left circle, and sparked a cheer from the small gathering of fans _ each with a blue-colored Olympic flag to wave _ seated socially distanced in two corners of the lower level of Wukesong Sports Centre.

There were also about two dozen male and female cheerleaders who lined the rail above the first level. The cheerleaders wore dark blue jerseys with ‘‘Ice Hockey’’ printed on them, and performed a dance to techno music before the start of the game and during the intermissions.