Great Britain Women U18 stun top seeds Norway in Dumfries

Great Britain Women U18 produced one of the best performances in their history as they beat top seeds Norway 1-0 after penalty shots in the World Championship (Division 1B) tournament in Dumfries.

Netminder Ella Howard secured a 48-shot shut-out and was named as player of the game, while Chloe Riley scored the winning penalty in sudden death.

GB produced an impressive first-period performance and went close through Chloe Headland and Lucy Beal.

Howard had to be at her best at the other end, turning away 14 shots on goal.

Norway continued to pile on the pressure in the second period as Howard saved another 14 attempts, but GB had quality chances at the other end too.

Chloe Headland was denied from close range, while a fantastic pass from Grace Garbett sent free Jessica Sprules but she was just unable to convert the chance.

The third period saw Howard continue to make world-class saves, while Ellie Wakeling and Verity Lewis went close for GB.

After a scoreless overtime period, a dramatic penalty shoot-out followed and the two teams could not be separated after five shots each.

In sudden death, Riley scored her second penalty and Howard denied Thea Jorgensen as GB secured a famous victory.

Head coach, Cheryl Smith, said: “Words cannot describe how proud I am of the team.



“We killed their gameplan and they followed the instructions from the coaches, which was fantastic.

“I am so thrilled with the win, but just as important was how they all stuck to the brief.”

In Wednesday’s other games, France beat Poland 4-0 while China secured their first win of the tournament as they were 4-1 winners over Netherlands.

GB are now fourth in the group table after three matches. They return to action against China on Friday (face-off 8.00pm).

(Image permission: Karl Denham)