Great Britain Under-18 Women coach Cheryl Smith felt her team were lacking as they went down 7-1 to Norway in their third U18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B game in Katowice.
After four points from their opening two games, GB were hoping to kick on, but it proved to be a disappointing day as the Norwegians dominated to claim victory.
But Smith was left to rue her team’s shortcomings and has urged her players to lift their heads for the rest of the competition.
“I didn’t think we turned up this afternoon and that is not like this side,” she said. “Norway played with a lot of passion and heart – and I thought we were sadly lacking that.
“Things weren’t going our way from the get-go, but our team always finds a way through it to get the job done and it just wasn’t there.
“We now have to get our heads together and find a way past Austria. We need the team that played against China and Korea to be there on Tuesday and not what we had today.”
Lucy Beal scored GB’s goal in the first period but Norway secured their second victory of the tournament to stay in the hunt for promotion and the gold medal.
(PHOTO: Courtesy of Ice Hockey UK)
Norway led 3-1 at the first interval as Ina Nodeland got the final touch after a goalmouth scramble then Ronja Tyra Trondsdotter netted from close range.
After Kiana Tait’s face-off win, Beal scored from the blueline on the powerplay to make it a one-goal game, but Silje Gundersen broke into the zone and fired high across Ella Howard for Norway’s third.
GB had two successive powerplay opportunities in period two but struggled to make an impact, before Chloe Headland went close just after the Norwegians returned to full strength.
Andrea Kaspersen netted Norway’s fourth, cutting inside from the right for a fine solo goal, while Christina Furseth finished off a well-worked powerplay move for their fifth.
Emma Nichols replaced Howard at the start of the third period and she could do nothing to stop a sixth Norway goal, as Iben Tillman’s shot from the blueline deflected into the net.
Nichols made two excellent close-range saves as Norway looked to extend their advantage in the closing stages before Mari Pedersen scored on the doorstep, bundling the puck over the line after a scramble and completing a good day’s work.
GB are back in action on Tuesday when they face Austria U18 Women at 4:30pm (3:30pm UK time).
The day’s other matches saw Austria blank out China in a 4-0 success, while South Korea edged to a 2-1 result over hosts Poland, with Austria leading the group on eight points from their three games so far.
