Great Britain Under-18s slipped to a 4-1 defeat against Poland U18s in their World Championship (Division 2A) game in Tallinn.
After Bartlomiej Jeziorski gave Poland the lead at 14:00, Luc Johnson set up Michael Stratford to equalise for GB in the second period (29:14).
But Poland scored three goals without reply in the final period to clinch the game – Szymon Skrodziuk (41:03), Wojciech Gorzycki (46:34) and Adam Rajski (52:37) all on target.
Assistant coach, James Pease, said: “It was a disappointing result for us. Today was our chance to put ourselves in position to challenge for gold and we did not take it.
“We need to find consistency and discipline in our play and learn how to compete all over the ice.
“We now have to draw a line, regroup and move forward collectively.
“We have the opportunity to pick up points in our final two games and show that we are a top team at this championship.
“We have a young team and it is a steep learning curve for them.”
GB’s next action is on Friday when they face Croatia at 2:30pm UK time.