Great Britain U18 Women relinquished a two-goal lead and were beaten 3-2 by China U18 Women after overtime in their opening game at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice.
Emily Harris scored a goal in the first and second periods but China came roaring back and GB had to settle with one point from their overtime defeat.
Britain went ahead just past the midway point of the first session as a well-worked powerplay saw Harris score on her backhand at the backdoor (10:12).
Harris netted her second at 23:50 when she cut inside from the right to fire past Han Yiyang to give GB a two-goal advantage, as Chloe Headland picked up her second assist of the game.
GB had a number of powerplay opportunities in the second period – including two stints of five-on-three – but were unable to add to their tally.
China closed the gap 49 seconds into the third session when Zhu Junfei scored from close range, while Zeng Youyou converted Li Qianhua’s pass from behind the net to equalise (44:45).
Britain killed-off two successive penalties midway through the third period with netminder Ella Howard making a number of important stops, including a point-blank save to deny Liu Xin.
GB had a minute’s powerplay going into overtime and came close to scoring twice, but China won the game at 63:46 when Qu Yue reacted first to a loose puck after a goalmouth scramble.
Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: “This is such a disappointing result as we were in control after two periods.
“China’s first goal set in some panic and we let the game get away from us after that.
“There were plenty of positive things out there this afternoon, so we have to take that forward for the rest of the tournament.
“Everyone in the dressing room is frustrated but we know we can do better and the girls will come back stronger.”
There’s action again for GB tomorrow when they face Korea U18 Women with a 1pm face-off (12noon UK time).