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Sarah Tueting, 21, defending against China in the opening game

A Game Of Their Own

The U.S. women's hockey team is on a mission, but the players are having fun anyway

By LAWRENCE MONDI /NAGANO

ou didn't need a name like Wayne or Eric or Jaromir to be playing hockey in the Olympics last week. You could have been Angela Ruggiero, just 18, still in high school and with no driver's license. Or Lisa Brown-Miller, 31, married back in 1995 but so busy training and touring that she hasn't had time for a honeymoon. Or Katie King, 22, and Karyn Bye, 26, the team's leading goal scorers. Or you could be named Cammi (short for Catherine) Granato and be captain of the first U.S. Olympic women's hockey team ever. At 7:39 of the first period of their first game (against China), Granato, with assists from Jenny Schmidgall and Gretchen Ulion, scored the first ever U.S. women's Olympic goal. "It was nice to get a chance early and bury it," she beamed. "Now I don't have to worry about all those things hockey players worry about: hitting the post, getting snakebit and frustrated and off your game. For a second I let myself feel it. I sat down on the bench and said, 'That's pretty cool. I just scored a goal in the Olympics.' Then it was back to business."

While there are differences between the men's and women's games--slap shots aren't as hard, and full body checking is not allowed among the women--play is just as intense and often very rough. No body checking usually means a fast-moving game grounded in the essential techniques of passing and stick handling. The hockey of the U.S. women's team is a skill sport. Says Mike Eruzione, captain of the "miracle on ice" 1980 U.S. men's Olympic team: "They have great feet and keep the game very basic. They are really a pleasure to watch."

The team's first two matches, though, were a little harried. The morning of the opening game, "the butterflies were going," Granato says. "Finally, we were starting." The U.S. followed up its 5-0 win over China with a 7-1 win over Sweden, and both games were tougher than the scores would indicate. Both China and Sweden tend to play back in their own zone and do a lot of clutching and grabbing, almost like an outclassed prizefighter hoping to go the distance with the champion. As a result, the transitions and fast feet that are so typical of the women's game were missing. The defensive styles made for some ugly hockey. Neither victory was easy. "They're a team I don't want to see again, I can tell you that," U.S. coach Ben Smith said of the Chinese.