Natasha Kai created two goals and scored another in the first half-hour and the U.S. under-21 women's national team cruised Friday to a 3-0 triumph over Finland in Dalvik, Iceland, in its opener at the 15th Nordic Cup.

Kai, the top goalscorer in NCAA Division I last season as a University of Hawaii sophomore, was fouled to set up former Penn State All-American Joanna Lohman's seventh-minute penalty kick, then scored her 10th goal this year for the U-21s in the 18th minute from a through ball by Texas' Kelly Wilson.

Rutgers' Carli Lloyd added a 30th-minute goal after Kai played her a through ball from Virginia's Sarah Huffman.

''We had talked about starting fast, and then we scored seven or eight minutes into the game,'' U.S. coach Chris Petrucelli said. ''We accomplished a couple of things in this match. We got the three points, certainly helped our goal-difference with the three goals, got a number of players rest and got some solid minutes for the reserves.''

Said Lohman, the U.S. captain: ''One of the main points was getting a quick start and pressuring them to get an early goal. We wanted to pressure their backs to see if they could handle it.''

Petrucelli, also head coach at Texas, used 16 of his 18 players. The Americans dominated play, and Finland packed its defense on a narrow field after falling behind by three goals. The U.S. women struggled to attack against a heavy wind in the second half.

Lohman's spot kick was awarded after UCLA's Jill Oakes played a long ball behind the Finnish backline for the speedy Kai to run onto. Goalkeeper Minna Pyykko slid into Kai, knocking her to the ground.

Pyykko made two big saves in the second half, diving to stop a volley by Stanford's Jenny Farenbaugh and stuffing a one-on-one chance by DePaul's Julianne Sitch in the game's final 10 minutes.

Stanford goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart needed to make just two saves to earn the shutout.

Germany also won its Group B opener in the ''unofficial world championship'' for U-21 women, beating Norway, 3-1, on goals by Verena Hagedorn, Annelie Brendel and Anne-Kathrin Sabel.

The Americans meet Norway on Sunday and Germany on Tuesday, with the group winner advancing to Thursday's championship. The United States has won the past five and six of the past seven Nordic Cup titles.

Sweden took charge in Group A, toppling Denmark, 2-0, as Marie Hammarstrom and Emma Lindqvist scored goals. In the other game, England and Iceland tied, 1-1, with Vicky Gallagher firing the English ahead in the 27th minute and Nina Osk Kristinsdottir netting the equalizer just before halftime.

NORDIC CUP
in Iceland

Group A
W L T GF GA Pts
Sweden 1 0 0 2 0 3
England 0 0 1 1 1 1
Iceland 0 0 1 1 1 1
Denmark 0 1 0 0 2 0

Friday, July 23
Sweden 2 (Hammarstrom 31, Lindqvist 52) Denmark 0
Iceland 1 (Kristinsdottir 45) England 1 (Gallagher 27)

Sunday, July 25
England vs. Sweden
Iceland vs. Denmark

Tuesday, July 27
Iceland vs. Sweden
Denmark vs. England

Group B
W L T GF GA Pts
United States 1 0 0 3 0 3
Germany 1 0 0 3 1 3
Norway 0 1 0 1 3 0
Finland 0 1 0 0 3 0

Friday, July 23
United States 3 (Lohman pen. 7, Kai 18, Lloyd 30) Finland 0
Germany 3 (Hagedorn 20, Brendel 32, Sabel 52) Norway 1 (Kaurin 90)

Sunday, July 25
United States vs. Norway
Germany vs. Finland

Tuesday, July 27
United States vs. Germany
Finland vs. Norway

Placement games
Thursday, July 29

U.S. SUMMARY
Friday, July 23 at Dalvik, Iceland

United States 3 Finland 0. Goals: Lohman pen. 7, Kai 18, Lloyd 30.

United States — Barnhart; Farenbaugh, Oakes, Dowling, Huie (White, 67); :Huffman, Lohman (Thaden, 62), Chalupny; Wilson (Hunt, 80), Kai (Sitch, 59), Lloyd (Makoski, 46).

Finland — Pyykko (Peltonen, 33); Kivisto (Elonen, 46), Niemi, Malaska, Ahonen, Hakala, Salmen, Lehtinen (Petaja, 68; Vaelma, 86), Lindqvist, Thorn, Talonen (Jafs, 74).

Yellow cards: None.

Referee: Moiken Jung (Germany).

Att.: 250.