Olympics-Ice hockey-US hit Italy for six to reach women's semi-finals

By Trevor Stynes

MILAN, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The United States ruthlessly beat Italy 6-0 on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the women's Olympic ice hockey tournament at Milano Rho Arena, where the hosts put on an incredible opening-period defensive display before succumbing to the inevitable.

The U.S. have never failed to reach the last four and the tournament favourites were not going to be denied by an Italian squad of rank outsiders playing in just their second Olympics.

Megan Keller scored the only goal before the first interval. Kendall Coyne then twice found the back of the net along with strikes from Laila Edwards, Britta Curl and Hannah Bilka in a five-goal second-period burst that provided a more realistic look to the score.

"The goal is a gold medal, but it's a step-by-step process," Coyne said.

"It's game by game, period by period, shift by shift. And I think that's the focus, and it's taking each game and learning from it, building upon it, and getting better for the next one."

Italian captain Nadia Mattivi was sent to the penalty box for an illegal hit in the fourth minute but a spirited defence and goalie Gabriella Durante kept the Americans at bay under extreme power play pressure.

Italy had their own power play in the second half of the first period but were unable to muster a shot before they too were hit with a penalty while American captain Hilary Knight was still in the box.

With the teams playing four-on-four, Keller worked a neat one-two with Edwards and smashed a one-timer for which Durante had no chance.

Italy faced an average of one shot per minute in the first period but managed to limit the U.S. to that single goal, and Durante made a superb stick save from a shot by Abbey Murphy just before the interval.

The second period was a completely different story, with the Americans finding the net five times from their 19 shots.

Coyne's shot from behind the goal shortly after the interval crept in at Durante's corner and Coyne added another five minutes into the second period.

Italy could no longer hold on and Edwards had time to pick her spot in the corner of the net as the U.S. suddenly found a ruthless streak.

A power play was of little use to Italy as the U.S. scored shorthanded through Curl's wraparound goal.

Della Rovere hit the crossbar with the home fans desperate to celebrate an Italian goal, but Bilka made it 6-0 shortly before the end of the second period.

The final period petered out with little in the way of goalmouth action. The Americans had done the job and Italy bow out with their heads high after a tournament that exceeded anyone's expectations.

"We want to play whoever's next. We have one goal in mind and that's to bring home a gold medal," Keller said.

"So whoever is in our way, you know, we're going to focus on ourselves and continue to build our brand."

SWEDEN ADVANCES IN TIGHT CONTEST

Sweden made the last four with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic earlier on Friday. Defending champions Canada face Germany and Finland take on Switzerland in the other quarter-finals on Saturday.

Teams will be re-seeded after the quarter-final matches to determine the semi-final pairings.