Up a tier, down a spot.

The Northern Avalanche Hockey Club won silver in the midget tier 2 division of the Angels on Ice Hockey Tournament held in Langley, B.C., from Dec. 27-30.

The club had a 2-2 record in their four games over three days.

The female midget team – which will also represent the Yukon at the 2011 Canada Winter Games (CWG) in Halifax, N.S., in February – won gold in the tier 3 division of the inaugural Wickenheiser International Women's Hockey Festival in Burnaby, B.C., in November.

Head coach Louis Bouchard said that neither of his club's past two Outside tournaments will be near the level they'll face come February.

"What we'll face at Canada Games is tier 1 all stars, so it doesn't compare,” he said.

The club's goal last week was to be in the top two, he added.

"If we weren't in the top two then we were in trouble going to the Canada Games from there. We wanted our penalty kills and our power plays to be effective, and they were, especially our penalty kill.”

Right-winger Dana van Vliet agreed, adding that the Avalanche stepped up their level from the November tourney.

"The games were more difficult,” she said. "I think we really wanted it, and we worked hard on our breakouts and fore-checking.

"There are some things that we could improve on, but we've all come really far.”

And will have to go further to be competitive in Halifax.

"It's going to be challenging, but we're going to do our best for it, we've worked for it,” van Vliet added.

Fellow right-winger Ashtyn Sandulak said she's noticed improvements in her team since November.

"It gave us more of a challenge,” Sandulak said. "We won faceoffs and we all worked as a team, we passed (the puck) really well and were really aggressive.”

Like the boys CWG team, who also nabbed silver last week in a B.C. tourney, the girls saw a decisive game come down to the wire.

The Yukoners lost to the Tri-Cities Predators 2-0 the game before facing them again in the finals.

The Predators led the final game 2-0 with two minutes left in the third period.

The Avalanche pulled goalie Joceyln Wynnyk, who started the tournament with a shutout.

Two quick goals to make it 2-2.

Then the heartbreaker – the Avalanche conceded the game-winning goal with two minutes left on the clock.

"Our girls played hard, the effort-level was there, the cohesion wasn't always there, so the other team was able to capitalize on that,” Bouchard said.

He described the Predators' third goal as starting from a weird bounce off the boards which popped out to the point.

He cited Linsey Eby, Lynsey Keaton, van Vliet, Wynnyk and Hannah Turner as putting in breakout performances for the team.

"The whole team played very well, but those names come to mind,” Bouchard said.

"Somebody like Hannah Turner just brought her best game so far. I've been coaching her for three years, and I think those were the best games she's played.”

With less than 40 days left before the Games, Bouchard said the club will work on playing disciplined, defensive hockey.

"We have a very offensive-minded team,” he said. "Our D is very disciplined, but we're going to need to teach our forwards to come back and help support their defense.

"Now with a little bit more than a month before Canada Games, we really have to concentrate on that aspect.”