Great Britain Women beat Australia Women 2-1 in their opening game at the World Championship Division II Group A in Dumfries.
Beth Scoon scored her first GB goal and 17-year-old Aimee Headland netted on her debut, while netminder Nicole Jackson turned away 18 of the 19 shots she faced.
Scoon gives GB Women a first-period lead
Chloe Headland was denied on the doorstep and at the other end, Jackson made a fine save from Kate Tihema’s shot.
Headland also went close when she created a turnover in the neutral zone but her shot was saved by Michelle Coonan.
GB went ahead when Jodie Bloom set up Scoon for a bullet from blueline at right point (15:34).
No goals in tight second session
Katie Marsden broke free early in the second period but shot just wide, before Jackson had to be at her best to keep out two Australia close-range shots.
Saffron Allen, Kim Lane, Steph Towns and Georgina Farman then all had chances before the period came to a close.
Aimee Headland scores first GB senior goal
Sharna Godfrey broke free for Australia but Jackson got a piece of it to deny her, before a great piece of individual skill saw Marsden go so close to scoring GB’s second goal.
Aimee Headland scored her first GB goal on her senior debut as she stole the puck in the offensive zone and produced a brilliant floated top-shelf finish (50:17).
Michelle Clark-Crumpton set up a tense end to the game with a backhand top-shelf finish on the doorstep at 58:50, but GB were not being denied and held on for an opening-night victory.
Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: “The girls gave us a 60-minute performance and they can be very happy.
“They worked hard from start to finish. It was a physical game and they gave it their all throughout.
“We saw some fantastic periods of play and some scrappy moments, but we got the job done.”
In the day’s earlier games, Spain Women, who were promoted last season, beat Slovenia Women 4-3 following a penalty shootout and Mexico Women secured 4-2 victory over DPR Korea.
There are no games tomorrow but GB return to action on Thursday evening when they face Slovenia Women (8pm).
The day’s other matches sees DPR Korea take-on Australia Women at 1pm and Mexico Women play Spain Women at 4:30pm.
Photo credit: Karl Denham