Wisconsin Soccer Central

State players and their teams continue to fare well at the Cyprus Cup women's tournament.

Lauren Sesselmann (Green Bay Notre Dame) started and logged 76 minutes at center back as Canada came back to beat Finland 2-1 in Nicosia, while Shannon Smyth (Mequon/Milwaukee DSHA) played the full 90 minutes as the Republic of Ireland topped South Africa 1-0 in Paralimni for its second win of the week.

Sesselmann, who didn't play in Canada's 2-0 win over Switzerland on Wednesday, played alongside former University of Wisconsin assistant Carmelina Moscato on the backline in her 29th career cap.

The Canadians fell behind after just 6 minutes, but scored in the 30th and 37th minutes to take the lead and held on to clinch a berth in Wednesday's championship game against England or New Zealand. Sesselmann cleared a Finnish shot off the line in the 57th to help preserve the slim lead. Canada closes Group B on Monday against the Netherlands.

Ireland, meanwhile, got a 51st-minute goal to sink South Africa in Smyth's 20th career cap. The Irish have outscored opponents 6-1 in their two matches, and will face fellow unbeaten South Korea for the Group C title on Monday – the South Koreans have scored five goals without conceding.

• Incoming UW freshman Rose Lavelle came on at halftime as the U.S. Under-20 women's national team settled for a 1-1 draw with Norway in its opener at the 12 Nations Tournament on Thursday in La Manga, Spain. The Americans had a 12-3 advantage in shots, but lost the clean sheet and the win in the final minute. The U.S. continues play Saturday against Germany and closes the tournament against Sweden on Monday. You can get some behind-the-scenes flavor from the U.S. camp as Lavelle is blogging from Spain.