Wisconsin Soccer Central

Shannon Smyth (Mequon/Milwaukee DSHA) and the Republic of Ireland women's national team were minutes away from earning a tie with heavily favored Canada in the fifth-place match of the Cyprus Cup on Wednesday in Nicosia.

But Sophie Schmidt scored with 10 seconds left in the 90th minute and Canada held on for a 2-1 comeback victory over the upstart Irish. If the match had remained tied, the teams would have headed straight to penalty kicks.

Ireland, the lowest-ranked team in the 12-team tournament field at No. 33 in the latest FIFA Women's World Rankings, went ahead through Ruesha Littlejohn in the 12th minute and led until Diana Matheson's 56th-minute equalizer for seventh-ranked Canada.

Smyth, who came on as a sub, nearly put Ireland back in front with a header but Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod made the save to keep it tied. Schmidt's late goal ended the Irish's six-match unbeaten streak (3-0-3) that dated to a 1-0 loss to Finland on March 13, 2013, in the seventh-place game of last year's Cyprus Cup.

Smyth, who plays professionally with Amazon Grimstad in Norway, has earned 29 caps for Ireland, which resumes 2015 Women's World Cup UEFA qualifying on April 5 at home against reigning European champions Germany.

On Twitter: @ShannonSmyth

• Bayern Munich striker Sarah Hagen (Appleton North/UW-Milwaukee) was an unused sub as the U.S. blanked North Korea 3-0 in the seventh-place game at the Algarve Cup in Parchal, Portugal. Abby Wambach extended her world record with her 166th and 167th career goals, while Heather O'Reilly also scored in her 200th cap – she is the ninth U.S. woman to reach the milestone. On Twitter: @sarahapplehagen