The Football Ferns have gone down fighting in their opening game of the Cyprus Cup, losing to Scotland 3-2 at the A. Papadopoulos in Larnaca.
The World No 21 Scotland, who recently qualified for the Euro Championship in 2017, their first major tournament, went ahead early through Jane Ross who followed up after a Christie Murray shot hit the crossbar in the ninth minute.
The Ferns, playing their first game since the Rio Olympics, rallied and Rosie White found the back of the net. The Boston Breakers' forward levelled things up when she scored after intercepting a pass and calmly slotted past the goalkeeper in the 20th minute. It is White's15th goal in 85 internationals.
It looked as if the match was heading for a draw until a dramatic final 10 minutes played out.
Scotland's Erin Cuthbert came off the bench and changed the game. The 18-year-old hit a great strike on the turn in the 83rd minute to take the lead. Scotland's captain Kim Little, in her 120th cap for her country, fired the Scots further ahead and scored the decisive third goal with four minutes of regulation time to play.