Liam Kirk scored twice to become the tournament’s top scorer, as GB were beaten 6-3 by Switzerland in their final Group A match in Riga.
It means that they return home from Latvia having finished 14th overall, leaving the top eight teams to compete in the knockout stages starting tomorrow.
It may have been GB’s sixth loss out of seven group matches, but they have risen in their second straight appearance at the top tier, proving to be a stubborn opponent with coaches Keefe and Corey Neilson running the team in the head coach’s absence . Peter Russell: proud of the whole list.
“We wanted to come and compete and that’s what we’ve done against some of the best teams in the world,” Keefe said. “As a coaching staff, we are proud of each of the players.
“There have been some fantastic moments, the main one being the victory over Belarus.
“Now we can build on this for next year in Finland and move on into the future. The team is confident now that it belongs to this level and they continue to prove it over and over again ”.
After trailing behind an effort from Gregory Hoffman in the 11th minute, Kirk struck back in 37 seconds to level, although Switzerland took the lead with a shot from Romain Loeffel at 16.42.
Kirk scored his second of the afternoon, leaving a rebound in the power play after Mark Richardson’s shot was stopped (25.34), but Switzerland took control with two goals in 13 seconds, Santeri Alatalo’s effort at 30.07 se added to be a goal from Christoph Bertschy.
GB fell four goals behind when New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier finished off a well-crafted move at 37.45.
Jackson Whistle replaced Ben Bowns on GB’s goal early in the third period, and only one goal was scored when the Sheffield Steelers’ Brendan Connolly scored at 53.58.
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Source: www.yorkshirepost.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-01 22:51:02
