Sophie Schmidt and the Canadian women's soccer team advanced to the knockout stage of the Olympic tournament on the strength of a thrilling 2-2 draw with Sweden on Tuesday.
At St. James Park in Newcastle, the Swedes – No. 4 in the FIFA world rankings – surged ahead on early goals from Marie Hammarstrom and Sofia Jakobsson.
But seventh-ranked Canada battled back to tie, with Melissa Tancredi playing the hero. The veteran striker scored in the 44th minute to draw Canada back to within a goal at halftime, then got the equalizer in the 84th minute, heading home a cross from Christine Sinclair.
Schmidt, a 24-year-old midfielder from Abbotsford, started and played 88 minutes before being substituted for Kelly Parker.
Canada (1-1-1) finishes third in Group F, having lost to Japan in their opener before beating South Africa. Sweden (1-0-2) edges Japan (1-0-2) for first based on goal differential.
The top two teams in each of the three groups move on to the quarter-finals, as do the top two third-place teams, and Canada advances under that provision.
The top two teams in each of the three groups move on to the quarter-finals, as do the top two third-place teams, and Canada advances under that provision.
Team Canada will face host Great Britain – and an electric home crowd at Coventry – in the quarters on Friday (11:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, OLN). The Brits went a perfect 3-0 to win Group E.