Two late third-period goals proved crucial as GB U18 Women were beaten 3-0 by Austria U18 Women at the Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division I Group B in Katowice.

Ella Howard was an inspiration in the GB goal, making 42 saves, while GB had some good chances at the other end with Chloe Headland and Emily Harris in particular going close.

Lena Daubock opened the scoring at 5:52 as she cut inside from the left and produced a neat finish.

GB held it tight until the two-and-a-half minutes before the end and Headland saw her shot cleared off the line early in the third period.

Emma Mortl’s shot from the blueline took a deflection on its way past Howard (57:36) on the powerplay and 31 seconds later, Emma Hofbauer got the final touch after a goalmouth scramble (58:07).

Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: “I’m so proud of the whole squad. They knew they needed to respond after the Norway game and they did that.

“We had momentum at times but ran into penalties which turned the tables and then we had to rebuild.

“We gave them very specific instructions and they stuck to them. We made a bad change and it cost us the first goal but from then on we pushed hard.

“We nullified their game in our defensive zone and at times they had no answer. Their second came from a powerplay goal but up until that moment we had Austria on the back foot and I felt we were going to score.

“Sometimes hockey can be cruel. All I know now is our first period tomorrow has to be as good as today’s game.”

GB’s final game tomorrow is against Poland U18 Women at 8pm (7pm UK time).