New Zealand's women's soccer team, the SWANZ, had their hearts broken by Canada at the AIS Athletics Ground in Canberra on May 31, as the North Americans scored twice in the last seven minutes to record a 2-1 victory over their Kiwi combination in the opening match of the inaugural Pacific Cup women's soccer tournament. Playing their first international in nineteen months, the SWANZ showed understandable ring-rustiness in the first spell, a period which saw the Canadians enjoying by far the better of the exchanges. Amy Welsh's curling fifth minute effort which went past the far upright was the first of Canada's six first half scoring attempts, the remainder of which foundered on SWANZ goalkeeper, Yvonne Vale. In the fifteenth minute, she got her fingertips to an Isabelle Harvey cross destined for the feet of the incoming Christine Sinclair, while six minutes later, it was the turn of Christine Latham to be thwarted by the shot-stopper, Vale turning the striker's free-kick around the post low to her right for a corner. This was cleared, but only to Liz Smith, whose inviting cross lured Vale off her line. She was beaten to the ball by Latham, however, only for the striker to power her header against the post, much to the SWANZ relief. Vale thwarted the Canadians twice more before the break, doing just enough on each occasion to frustrate Andrea Neil and the ever-dangerous Latham, easily the pick of the North American combination. With the wind and sun behind them in the second spell, and some well-chosen words from coach Doug Moore ringing in their ears, the SWANZ tore into their opponents with a vengeance. Captain Wendi Henderson twice sent the ball over the crossbar in the first four minutes of the half, while in between her efforts, Amanda Crawford's inviting cross, coupled with Maia Jackman's menacing presence in the Canadian goalmouth, gave goalkeeper Karina Le Blanc all sorts of cause for concern before she was able to gather the ball. Ten minutes into the second spell, the SWANZ hit the front. Terry McCahill's free-kick from just inside the Canadian half penetrated deep into their penalty area. Crawford flung herself forward, and sent a diving header careering inside Le Blanc's right-hand post to register the first-ever goal in the Pacific Cup. This sent the SWANZ confidence levels off the scale, but they were quickly reminded of the need to keep their minds on the job, following a woeful Rachel Oliver free-kick. Latham was quickly onto the opening, but was closed down by Nicky Smith just as promptly. The ball fell kindly for Sinclair, whose twenty-yarder whistled over the top. Back came the SWANZ, Marlies Oostdam forcing a fine save high to her right by Le Blanc, following a 68th minute corner from debutant Simone Ferrara. Le Blanc cleared the ball, and it eventually reached her opposite number. Vale's clearance, however, was nowhere near as authoritative. Thankfully, she was able to atone for it, saving from Latham after gifting the ball to Sinclair. Into the last ten minutes, the SWANZ looked as if they would be able to hold on for their first win against full international opposition on foreign soil since beating Papua New Guinea in the Oceania Women's World Cup qualifying series in October 1994. While each member of the starting back four - Jane Simpson, McCahill, Melissa Ruscoe and Oliver - had, at times, looked somewhat uncomfortable under pressure, they had, with assistance from Oostdam and Simpson's replacement, Jill Corner, fulfilled their primary duty to this point, namely keeping 1999 Women's World Cup finalists Canada scoreless. But a knock to the knee curtailed Oliver's involvement with eight minutes to go, and as the SWANZ tried to reorganise matters, Canada capitalised. McCahill, the SWANZ defensive lynchpin for much of the last decade, was caught out of position following a Canadian corner, and her error was compounded by a foul on the edge of the penalty area committed by Oliver's replacement, Zarnia Cogle. Kristina Kiss gave Vale no chance with a delightfully curled free-kick over the wall to put the Canadians on level terms in the 83rd minute, a goal which gave them renewed impetus. Extra time loomed large - despite the round-robin format, if the scores are level at ninety minutes, the Golden Goal rules applies, thence penalties. But it didn't come, as Canada struck the goal which broke the SWANZ hearts two minutes into injury time. Another Canadian corner came to nought, the clearance finding its way to Harvey, out on the right. As the SWANZ raced out of defence, she found herself with her shadow and the ball for company on the right flank, space which she made full use of. A tantalising cross soon followed, and, despite the best attempts of Vale and Ruscoe at the near post, it beat the pair of them. Sinclair, following up, swept the ball home high into the net to the delight of her team-mates, who had just seconds to wait for the final whistle, the SWANZ barely able to kick off before referee Sheena Storrie sounded the death knell for their hopes on this occasion. As you would expect, coach Moore was disappointed at the way his charges had allowed victory to slip from their grasp so late in the piece. Ultimately, it comes down to the SWANZ lack of exposure on the international stage, a fact underlined by the lack of confirmed fixtures scheduled for the national women's team following this tournament. Unless the SWANZ are afforded the same degree of forward-planning, in terms of regular international match-play, as is enjoyed by New Zealand's other national representative soccer teams, the rewards gained from their involvement in tournaments such as the Pacific Cup will be of little long-term benefit to the players, whose ultimate goal at present is qualifying for the 2003 Women's World Cup Finals, which will almost certainly be held in Australia. SWANZ:   Vale; Simpson (Corner, 71), McCahill, Ruscoe, Oliver (Cogle, 82); Ferrara, Smith, Henderson, Oostdam; Jackman, Crawford. Canada:     Le Blanc; Smith (Burtini, 74), Boyd, Walsh, Morneau; Neil, Kiss, Walsh, Harvey; Latham (Hermus, 81), Sinclair. Referee:     Sheena Storrie