Great Britain Head Coach Angela Taylor says Tuesday’s gold-medal encounter with Spain at the IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship Division II in Istanbul was a “spectacular showcase of the women’s game”.
GB returned from Turkey with the silver medal after Spain won 3-1 to clinch promotion to Division 1.
“It was exciting to see such a high standard of hockey being played in the lowest division of under-18s,” said Taylor.
“Spain are an extremely poised and composed team with a number of highly skilled and young players, which is evident when you look at their plus minus.
“I was very proud of our girls and how they fought right to the end of the game after going 3-0 down in the first period.
“We had a few moments of greatness where I thought we might be able to pull the game back, but the credit needs to go to Spain for riding out those storms and keeping the doors closed.”
GB had wins over Mexico (6-0), Turkey (6-0) and Netherlands (2-1) and also lost 4-0 to Spain earlier in the tournament.
“We will take away a lot of positives, along with some key areas where we will work to get better,” continued Taylor.
“For me personally, I’ve learned so much from my team, other coaches and the referee supervisors.
“The tournament felt like a very supportive, encouraging and inclusive environment where everyone just wants to improve – not just themselves and their teams but women’s hockey as a whole.
“My staff and I are eagerly awaiting next year’s tournament in January.”