Alaska's Kelter leads U.S. in scoring as Americans go 1-1 on first day of Olympic rugby

Eagle River rugby player Alev Kelter made history Saturday at the Rio Olympics.

Kelter became the first American since 1924 – and the first American woman, period – to score a try in Olympic rugby when she provided her team's first and only try in a 12-7 loss to Fiji on a day when the sport was welcomed into the Summer Olympics.

The game was one of five played at Rio de Janiero's Deodoro Stadium, where women's rugby sevens made its Olympic debut. The men's game is returning to the Olympics after an absence of 92 years.

Kelter and her teammates bounced back in a big way after the loss to Fiji to pummel Colombia 48-0. Playing twice a day isn't unusual in rugby sevens, a physical, high-speed game that consists of two seven-minute halves.

[Alaska's hockey rinks, soccer pithes turned Kelter into an Olympic rugby player}

Kelter, a 5-foot-6, 165-pound scrum half, furnished two tries and two conversions to lead the United States with 14 points in the win over Colombia, which preserves the team's chances of advancing to the quarterfinals. Eight of the 12 teams will move on from pool play.

Kelter, 25, didn't realize the historic nature of her goal against Fiji until asked about it at a press conference.

"It truly is an honor," Kelter told reporters. "Actually, I hadn't thought about that. But it's really cool."

The Chugiak High graduate, who played Division I hockey and soccer at the University of Wisconsin, is her team's leading scorer through two games. The United States wraps up pool play Sunday with a match against powerhouse Australia at 8:30 a.m. ADT.

A win would put the United States in the quarterfinals, but the team could advance even with a loss. The three pool-play winners and five other teams will move on to the quarterfinals.

Among the spectators at the U.S.-Fiji game was Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, and Shachin Tendulkar of India, one of cricket's greatest batsmen.