Great Britain women's hockey captain Jodie Alderson-Smith discusses her nation continuing to advance in World Championship competition and the keys to their on-ice success. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA1NTMzMzA1MjM0MjcwMTA4/kmd_9319.jpg] Great Britain will face off against Latvia for a chance to be promoted from the IIHF Division IB tournament to close out their campaign in Riga, Latvia. Great Britain set up the opportunity to earn a medal and potentially promotion with a 2-1 win over Slovenia. Great Britain pummelled the Slovenian net with 70 shots in the game, 68 of which were turned away by Pia Dukaric. “The team have hit the targets we’ve set and are deservedly playing for a medal tomorrow," said Great Britain head coach Mike Clancy. "They were determined and patient when their goalie was making a lot of saves. The atmosphere of a full rink with noisy home fans playing for a medal is exactly the kind of experience we need for the team to get where we want to be. “We will enjoy tonight but we will be ready and can’t wait for Saturday night to arrive.” Pia Pren opened the scoring on a two-on-one alongside Sara Confidenti to give Slovenia a led, but just over a minute later Katherine Gale led a rush for Great Britain and finished off a rebound from a Rachel Cartwright. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, captain Jodie Alderson-Smith played hero again for Great Britain picking the top right corner over Dukaric. ITALY SHOCKS SLOVAKIA Slovakia could have secured first overall in the tournament locking up gold with a win over Italy, but Italy had other ideas. Italy beat the top ranked Slovakia 3-2 with Anna Caumo scoring twice for Italy.
