Latvia and the United States battled to a 3-3 tie in their preliminary round Winter Olympics hockey game Feb. 15, a result that has sports commentators wondering about prospects for the American team.

Latvia had Artūrs Irbe in the goal and a number of other Olympic veterans helping to round out the squad. It faced a U.S. team that was unseasoned in Olympic competition, according to some media reports.

The first period in Palasport Olimpico in Torino, Italy, ended with the United States ahead 2-1, but Latvia added two goals in the second period to take the lead, 3-2. The Americans tied up the game two minutes into the third period, according to results posted on the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

The United States was the first to get a point on the scoreboard. Nine minutes and 44 seconds into the game, Brian Gionta scored on a power play, assisted by John-Michael Liles and Scott Gomez. Not even a minute later Craig Conroy added a second goal for the United States. Latvia’s Aleksandrs Ņiživijs, assisted by Sandis Ozoliņš, got his team’s first goal at 13:15 into the game.

Latvia kept the United States scoreless in the second period, but added two more goals and took the lead. Atvars Tribuncovs, assisted by Ozoliņš and Ņiživijs, scored 35:04 into the game. Forty seconds later, Herberts Vasiļjevs scored with help from Rodrigo Laviņš.

The U.S. team added the tying goal just two minutes into the final period. The point was credited to Jordon Leopold, with assistance from Bret Hedican and Craig Conroy.

The Americans outshot the Latvians, keeping Irbe busy as he stopped 39 of 42 scoring attempts. U.S. goaltender John Grahame stopped 22 of Latvia’s 25 shots on goal.

Latvia’s Anna Orlova, a veteran of the women’s luge event, has once again bettered her Olympic performance, this time finishing seventh overall.

Orlova’s total time after the fourth run on Feb. 14 was 3 minutes, 9.483 seconds. That was just over 1.5 seconds more than gold medal winner Sylke Otto, according to results posted on the official Web site of the Winter Olympics, www.torino2006.org.

Making her fifth Olympic appearance on Feb. 13, the 33-year-old Orlova finished in 11th place after the first run and moved to ninth after the second run. She nudged herself up to eighth place after the third run on Feb. 14.

Orlova’s Olympic debut was in 1992 at Albertville, where she finished 11th overall. Two years later, in Lillehammer, she finished ninth. During the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano she slipped to 13th place, but jumped back to ninth in the Salt Lake City games four years ago.

Two other Latvian women competed in the luge event at Cesana Pariol, Italy. Maija Tīruma finished 17th with a time of 3:13.044, while Aiva Aparjode was right behind her in 18th place with a combined time of 3:13.065.

A new weekly magazine, Republika.lv, is set to debut Feb. 17 and promises to cover Latvian current affairs in society, politics, the economy, culture and sports.

The magazine, with an initial press run of 25,000, will have 48 pages and is to include original poetry and prose, photojournalism, and interviews with international and Latvian public figures, Editor Laura Krastiņa said in a Feb. 14 press release.

Publisher of the magazine will be SIA Žurnāls, which is controlled by businessman Viesturs Koziols, known in Latvia as a real estate investor and president of the hockey club Rīga 2000. Koziols wanted to create the publication because, according to the press release, Latvia lacks a quality weekly magazine for socially and economically active residents.

The magazine will have an advisory board whose members are to include well-known experts such as sociologist Ābrams Kleckins of the University of Latvia, businessman Gundars Margēvičs of the automobile sales company Aura Auta, journalist Pauls Timrots and public relations specialist Kristians Rozenvalds.

A Web site, www.republika.lv is scheduled to also open on Feb. 17, Krastiņa told Latvians Online. The site will allow readers to subscribe to the publication as well as to learn about the magazine’s contents.