Great Britain produced a battling performance but were beaten 4-0 by top seeds Austria at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice.
GB won promotion from Division II last season with five wins from five, while Austria were relegated from the second tier.
Netminder Evelyn Brown started between the pipes and made an impressive 38 saves.
After a scoreless first session, Florentina Rumpl drove the net to put Austria ahead early in the second period (20:20).
Emma Lintner neatly skated across the front of the crease to score on the powerplay (31:28) and Rumpl cut inside off the left to net her second goal (44:07).
Austria scored short-handed thanks to great determination by Johanna Sintschnig who set-up Lintner for her second of the afternoon (58:52).
GB are back in action tomorrow (Tuesday 6th January) against Spain. Face-off is 20:00 (19:00 GMT).
GB Schedule and Results
Monday 5th January: Great Britain 0-4 Austria
Tuesday 6th January: Spain v Great Britain 20:00 (19:00 GMT)
Thursday 8th January: Great Britain v China 20:00 (19:00 GMT)
Saturday 10th January: Poland v Great Britain 16:30 (15:30 GMT)
Sunday 11th January: Australia v Great Britain 13:00 (12:00 GMT)