By Andy Potts | 10 OCT 2021 IIHF

Korea advances to the final qualification round after surviving a British onslaught in Nottingham, in a Great Britain 1-0 win, in the final game of the tournament.

Korea claims top spot in a three-way tie by virtue of goal difference.

It came down to a single goal. Britain had to win by two or more.

Louise Adams got one in the final minute of the second period but that was the only goal that Korea allowed in the entire tournament as 16-year-old netminder Inhye Jang produced another fantastic performance between the piping.

Korea continued with the same line-up that saw it earn shut-out wins over Slovenia and Iceland. Britain, though, shuffled its lines.

Captain Saffron Allen moved to the first line alongside Katie Marsden and Louise Adams. Isabel Whiteley took Allen’s place next to Jodie-Leigh Bloom and Katie Henry, with that trio moving to the third line. The original line three of Rachel Cartwright, Aimee Headland and Katherine Gale was listed as the second line here.

The game developed as a clash of styles. Korea was content to absorb British pressure and look to strike on the counter attack, while the Brits had little option but to push forward in search of the goals it needed to advance.

The first period saw both teams probing each other’s games and clear-cut chances were at a premium.

GB had more efforts on goal but rarely managed to extend young Korean goaltender Inhye Jang. At the other end, Nicole Jackson was less involved in the game, but produced big saves to halt Selin Kim’s solo rush in the eighth minute and then to snuff out a dangerous two-on-one break when Jiyeon Choi teed up Nara Kang on the slot.

The second period began with Korea gaining more control of the game and generating plenty of danger.

Once again, Jackson had to make some big saves to keep home hopes alive. Gradually, though, the momentum began to switch.

Local girl Chamonix Jackson came close midway through the frame but could not quite get her shot away. Then there was an almighty scramble on the Korean crease when Marsden went on the wraparound to feed Allen at the back door. However, the puck would not drop for the captain to shoot cleanly at the empty net.

But the pressure paid off one minute before the second intermission on the first British power play of the night. Louise Adams brought the 1,700-strong crowd to its feet when she rifled home a shot from between the hash marks after another incisive feed from Marsden rounded off a fine spell of possession in the Korean zone.

It was the first goal Korea allowed in 159 minutes of play at this tournament, and it turned a comfortable position for the top seed into a decidedly precarious one.

The British PP was running five in nine as the third period got underway and almost immediately a crunching hit on Adams ushered in chance number 10 for the power play. Henry saw a shot bobble agonisingly wide but this time Lucy Beal’s crunching hit on Jongah Park brought a penalty the other way. 

That flurry of penalties continued for both teams as the third period struggled to settle into a rhythm. That suited Korea better than GB, as the clock ticked down and the pressure on the host team piled up.

With 40 seconds left, another Korean penalty enabled Britain to finish the game playing 6-on-4, but there was no way through and Korea claimed top spot.