Underdog Italy earns first Olympic win as crowd supports side in arena's issue-free debut

MILAN, Feb 5 : Tournament underdogs Italy got the party started in front of their home fans on Thursday, earning its first-ever women's ice hockey win in an Olympics with a 4-1 victory over France in front of a raucous crowd at Santagiulia Arena.

The action kicked off without any issues at the newly built venue in Milan, as over 9,000 people gathered to watch the match wrapped in flags in a joyful mood, helping shrug off previous concerns that 15,300-seat Santagiulia would not be ready for the event.

"We're ready to do more than just participating (at these Games)," forward Matilde Fantin, who scored one of Italy's goals, said after the game. "Playing here gave me goosebumps".

Organisers worked around the clock until as late as Thursday morning to have the venue fit for Thursday's game, with dozens of people busy laying cables, finishing interiors, cleaning and setting up hospitality areas.

"The venue is clearly 85 per cent finished, but it's beautiful, you have very good visibility from every spot," said Mattia, from Milan, who watched the contest with his wife and their two daughters. "The experience was great, it was very exciting to be here with Italy winning".

Thursday's win is expected to create growing enthusiasm around the team as Italy proceeds in a tournament that features the world's hockey heavyweights, including Beijing 2022 medallists Canada, United States and Finland.

Fans in the arena repeatedly chanted "Italia, Italia" with growing enthusiasm as Italy scored four unanswered goals after falling behind 0-1.

Apart from 35-year-old Laura Fortino, who won gold with Canada in 2014 and silver four years later, all of Italy's women players were making their Olympic debuts.

Goaltender Gabriella Durante said no one had