The Americans played most of the game in Finland's half, firing 19 shots to the Finns' four. The U.S. also had 16 corner kicks to Finland's two but the American corners were fruitless.

The Americans took the lead in the 37th minute when Tarpley poked the ball home in a goal-mouth scramble. Two minutes later, the forward struck again with a shot from 15 yards (meters).

"I'm very satisfied with the way they knocked it around," U.S. coach Pia Sundhage said. "They kept possession in the first half. They did very well with swinging from one side to another. We had problems penetrating. We didn't create as many chances as I wanted to."

Finland pulled a goal back in the 54th when Essi Sainio drilled a shot at U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry, who let the ball slip through her hands. Scurry had one save, while Finland's Korpela Tinja-Riikka had seven.

The Finns almost equalized in the 67th when a shot by Anna-Kaisa Rantanen hit the cross bar and bounced out.

But the Americans overcame that scare to extend the lead in the 69th when forward Lauren Cheney shot the ball into the left corner of the net. Midfielder Angela Woznuk sealed the win with a goal in the 80th from about 10 yards (meters).

Finnish coach Michael Kald was proud that his young team was able to score.

"I don't even remember the last time we scored a goal against the U.S.A. Maybe it was 20 years ago," he said.

Kald praised the power, speed and technical skill of the Americans, and said his players got rattled after the first goal was scored.

"Young players when they play against strong Americans, when they make their first mistake, after that they are a bit scared to make the second mistake and you can see that in the first half," he said.

The Americans, who beat Canada 4-0 in the first round, play China on Sunday. The Chinese, who defeated Finland 2-0 on Wednesday, had a scoreless draw against Canada on Friday.