Great Britain were beaten 4-3 by second seeds Poland in their fourth game at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice.
It was another battling performance by GB who staged a late fightback and came same close to forcing overtime.
The were no goals in the first period which Poland dominated with netminder Evelyn Brown making 14 saves.
The hosts continued to pile on the pressure in the second session and Brown made a huge point-blank stop on Malgorzata Zakrzewska.
Olivia Bath and Evie Tindale neatly combined to set-up Rebecca Voslinsky who drove the net to put GB ahead (29:53).
The hosts drew level only 11 seconds later as Malgorzata Zakrzewska cut inside off the right (30:04) and Anna Zdziechowska fired across Brown to put Poland ahead (32:15)
Matylda Stepien made it three goals in just over three minutes for Poland when she reacted first to a loose puck in the slot (33:53).
Milla Pironi went close for GB on a third-period powerplay before Brown made a great save to deny Poland forward Emilia Stankiewicz short-handed.
Malgorzata Zakrzewska drove the backdoor to score on her backhand for Poland’s fourth (48:21), but GB hit back only 57 seconds later when Olivia Bath scored from the slot (49:18).
Bath fed Voslinsky who went top-shelf for her second goal of the game to set-up a tense finish (57:14).
Voslinsky and Caoimhe Parsons had chances in the final 10 seconds but Poland held on to secure the points.
GB play their final game of the tournament tomorrow (Sunday 11th January). Face-off is 13:00 (12:00 GMT).
All games can be watched on a live webcast which can be purchased here.
GB Schedule and Results
Monday 5th January: Great Britain 0-4 Austria
Tuesday 6th January: Spain 0-1 Great Britain
Thursday 8th January: Great Britain 1-4 China
Saturday 10th January: Poland 4-3 Great Britain
Sunday 11th January: Australia v Great Britain 13:00 (12:00 GMT)
Click here for full stats and results on the IIHF tournament website.
