Team Manitoba lost its preliminary round opener 5-1 to Ontario Blue at the 2019 National Women's U18 Hockey Championship Tuesday night in Morden.

Madison Desmarais and Taylor Larsen scored shorthanded goals for Ontario Blue who outshot the home province 52-26.

"We started off well and then we relaxed," said Team Manitoba head coach Rob Voth. "We had such a rollercoaster night. I thought when we finally got pressure in their zone we would breakdown somewhere and then we would be back in our zone. It was quite an emotional ride."

Ontario Blue led 3-1 after 40 minutes.

Meagan Relf faced 19 shots in each of the first two periods.

"I thought I had a good performance," said the Oakbank product. "With the amount of shots it was a pretty tough game but I tried to see the puck through and battled as hard as I can. We worked really hard at our game and I think it's going to get better and better as we go on. I hope that we can come together as a team and keep pushing through."

Jory Hansen-Young of Brandon scored the lone Manitoba goal.

Team Manitoba will face British Columbia tonight (7 p.m.) and then play its final preliminary round game Thursday against Quebec.

Quebec downed B.C. 7-1 on Tuesday.

Coach Voth explained what his players need to be better at in game two.

"A better forecheck. A better effort in winning the little battles and being a little bit smarter with the puck when we finally gain possession in the neutral zone. There's a little bit of room for improvement."