GB U18 Women put in a brave performance but were beaten 3-1 by Italy Under-18 Women in their opening game in the World Championship Division 1 Qualification tournament in Radenthein.
GB were outshot 14-9 in the first period and Emily Cole made a number of excellent stops to keep the game scoreless.
At the other end, Lucy Gruber twice went close and Casey Traill had a chance short-handed.
GB started the second session with plenty of pressure in the offensive zone and Shannon Douglas and Katie Marsden had good chances on the same shift.
But Anita Muraro scored twice in three minutes at 30:14 and 33:16, both close-range finishes on the doorstep, as Italy opened up a two-goal lead.
GB got back into the game just as the period was coming to a close as Traill and Charlotte Edgar combined well to set up Marsden, who broke free to fire through the five-hole at 39:01.
Great Britain hit penalty trouble midway through the third session and Muraro completed her hat-trick when she broke clear from the blueline to fire low (51:45).
Coach, James Ashton, said: “In ice hockey, sometimes the scoreline does not reflect the game and we were unlucky not to score in the first period.
“We had a lot of chances and their goalie was very good. This was the second-placed team from this tournament last year.
“They all worked hard. We were slightly disappointed we did not get the goals and then we were caught out at the back.
“We had plenty of the play but we just need to convert our chances.”
GB’s second game is tomorrow (Friday) when they face Poland at 11:45am local time (10:45am UK time).
In yesterday’s other game in Group B, Poland beat Australia 11-0.
In Group A in Spittal, Kazakhstan beat China 5-2, while there was a 12-0 victory for Austria over Romania.
GB scoring: Marsden 1, Edgar +1, Traill +1
GB netminding: Cole 28/31