Midfielder Sophie Schmidt of Abbotsford (pictured above in action against Cuba during the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament at B.C. Place in January) and the rest of the Canadian Women's team has fought their way into the London 2012 Olympic quarter finals on Friday.
Photograph by: Jason Payne, PNG Files, The Province , for the Abbotsford Times
The Canadian women's soccer team, including Abbotsford midfielder Sophie Schmidt, fought the good fight against Sweden and will live to see another day at the 2012 London Olympics.
The team rallied Tuesday in a do or die situation, from trailing two-nil to tie up with the fourth-ranked Swedes 2-2, thus securing a place in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Canada's next opponent won't be determined until the final sets of women's matches conclude Tuesday night.
Canada fell behind 2-0 early in the match but when Melissa Tancredi scored her first goal close to halftime the team's chances improved exponentially.
The second
The Canadians, who lost 2-1 to world champion Japan in their Olympic opener, then, won 3-0 over South Africa in Game 2, finish the round-robin 1-1-1.
Tancredi scored her second at the 84-minute mark with a pass from team captain Christine Sinclair.
The effort was good enough for Canadians to draw even with Sweden, seizing their quarters spot as the top third-place team in the tournament.
