Great Britain Men’s Universities beat Korea 3-1 in their placement game at the 28th Winter Universiade in Almaty.
GB won the game with period scores of 1-0, 1-0 and 1-1 as netminder Adam Long turned away 38 of the 39 shots he faced.
Britain will now meet USA tomorrow in the ninth/10th-placed playoff match.
Meanwhile, GB’s top-10 finish means they have a secured a place at the 2019 Games in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
Liam Charnock gave GB the lead on the powerplay at 5:07 as GB led by a goal at the first intermission.
Danny Rose made it 2-0 at 26:09 before Korea pulled a goal back through Dohyung Kim (41:57).
Ivan Antonov scored into an empty net (59:51) to seal GB Men’s first win at a Winter Universiade.
Head coach, Matt Bradbury, said: “Today was a huge day for the the men’s GB University ice hockey programme.
“Our first-ever win since we competed in our first Winter Universiade in 2007, literally 10 years in the making.
“Having the experience of past games has helped us prepare for this moment.
“We approached the competition by putting together a balanced team capable of finishing as a top-10 nation, giving us automatic qualification for the 2019 Games.
“We knew the three preliminary games would be about the experience and the opportunity of playing against some top players from around the hockey world.
“We knew that Korea would be a well organised, gritty team that would have good fitness and skating ability.
“We planned a strong defensive game, played with patience and soaked up the pressure working on the break.
“It was a great moment for all involved – from the backroom staff, the team doc, physio and all and everyone pulled in the right direction.”