GB U18 Women were beaten 2-1 by China U18 Women in their fourth match at the World Championship (Division 1 Qualification) in Katowice.
GB had plenty of pressure in the first period and looked the most likely team to score, but they fell behind in session two with Lixue Xing on target at 35:55.
But GB got back into the game through Kimberley Lane (38:09) on the breakaway to level the scores going into the third period.
Bowen Jiang (41:24) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal, as GB were unable to find a way through despite late pressure.
Coach Sean Alderson lifted netminder Molly Brooks for the extra skater and GB went six on four when Liying Yang took a tripping penalty, but China stood firm to claim their first win.
Alderson said: “Scoring goals has been a problem for us all week and tonight was no exception.
“Despite applying a lot of early pressure, we just couldn’t penetrate the Chinese defence.
“Going a goal down with four minutes to go in the second was tough, but we got a lucky bounce on our blueline and Kim (Lane) raced clear to score of the breakaway, which gave the team a boost going into the locker room.
“The Chinese, however, came out stronger in the third and put us under pressure and a puck thrown on the net took a deflection of one of our own players and squeezed through Molly.
“We threw everything we could at them in the last few minutes, used our timeout, pulled Molly, but we just couldn’t break through the Chinese defence.”
In Saturday’s other games, Italy beat Kazakhstan 2-1 and Denmark were 5-1 winners over hosts Poland.
GB round off their tournament with a game against the Poles on Sunday.