Great Britain were defeated 4-3 by second seed Poland in their fourth match at the Women’s Under-18 World Cup Division I Group B in Katowice.
It was another combative performance from GB, who staged a late second leg and came close to forcing extra time.
There were no goals in the first period as 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 combined neatly to set up Rebecca Voslinsky who drove the net to put GB ahead (29:53).
Just 11 seconds later the hosts leveled when Malgorzata cut back Zakrzewska from the right (30:04) and Anna Zdziechowska fired over Brown to put Poland ahead (32:15).
Matylda Stepien scored three goals in just over three minutes for Poland when she was the first to react to a loose puck in the slot (33:53).
Milla Pironi went close for GB on a powerplay in the third period before Brown made a great save to deny Polish forward Emilia Stankiewicz.
Malgorzata Zakrzewska drove through the back door to score on her backhand for Poland’s fourth place (48:21), but GB hit back just 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 match to create a thrilling finish (57:14).
Voslinsky and Caoimhe Parsons had chances in the final ten seconds, but Poland held on and secured the points.
GB will play their final match of the tournament tomorrow (Sunday 11 January). The showdown is at 1:00 PM (12:00 GMT).
All matches can be followed via a live webcast which is for sale here.
EN Schedule and results
Monday January 5: Great Britain 0-4 Austria
Tuesday January 6: Spain 0-1 Great Britain
Thursday January 8: Great Britain 1-4 China
Saturday January 10: Poland 4-3 Great Britain
Sunday January 11: Australia vs Great Britain 1:00 PM (12:00 GMT)
Click here for complete stats and results on the IIHF tournament website.
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