GB ice hockey women suffer loss to Poland
BySportsbeat
Published 04/11/2016 at 14:31 GMT
Great Britain's ice hockey women know only a win in their final game will give them a chance of making the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games after being beaten 4-3 by Poland.
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The match in Kazakhstan was their second in the Olympic Preliminary Qualifying Round 2 tournament, with only the top team from their group of four progressing to the next qualification stage.
Cheryl Smith's side recorded a last-minute 3-2 win over Mexico on Thursday, but they could not continue their run and left themselves with too much to do after twice conceding a two-goal lead to the Polish.
Magdalena Czaplik put the Poles ahead on 12 minutes, and Karolina Pozniewska doubling their lead just 21 seconds later.
The Brits fired back in the second period with Kimberley Lane narrowing the deficit before Shannon Douglas brought the scores level in the 28th minute.
But Joanna Strzelecka's powerplay strike just two minutes later gave the Poles the lead at the close of the second period.
And Kamila Wieczorek scored the crucial fourth in the 45th minute, meaning a captain's goal from Katie Henry in the 59th minute was not enough to salvage anything from the game.
"We played really well tonight and created lots of chances," said head coach Smith.
"We had the chances to win the game but we just couldn't bury them. There were a couple of errors for their goals which is disappointing.
"We will skate tomorrow and get ready for the final game against Kazakhstan.
"We are still alive in this tournament. We just have to focus and go out and play to the best of our ability to stand a chance of going through."
Britain's crunch encounter with the hosts comes on Sunday, with the visitors knowing they must win to stand any chance of progress, with the finer permutations relying on games still to be played.
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