Sunday afternoon was a fitting end to the season for under-12 coed soccer team Pine Plumbing.

During the regular season, Pine won about 60 per cent of their games, but the players were improving every game and coach Randy Audette felt they had a good shot at making the gold medal final at the McDonald's Yukon Soccer Championships this past weekend.

'They played super all weekend,' he said. 'They really came together as a team. Their passing was just phenomenal. They played their positions really well and that was probably the key.'

In the end, not only did Pine Plumbing make it the final, but they shocked RCMP Drug Awareness and claimed the gold medal by a score of 3-1. The RCMP squad had been close to unbeatable in the regular season.

'RCMP Drug Awareness had beat us both times we played them before (in the regular season) and actually quite handily,' said Audette, who coaches the team along with Gord Smith, in an interview this morning. 'They were the team to beat we thought. We were hoping to just get a shot at them in the finals. But the kids played so well and we won the game, actually quite handily.

'We were just all over them. The passing was wonderful.'

Audette has been coaching the same group of kids since they were in under-nine coed soccer and said it's amazing how much they improve every year.

'This is our first year for full-field play so they had to learn to stay in their positions and not just chase the ball,' he said. 'And they did that.'

The championships this past weekend marked the end of the outdoor minor soccer season, a year which Audette said was very successful for his team.

'They got to know each other more and were playing better and passing better all season,' he said. 'Even in the tournament they kept getting better, which was good because we played the toughest team last.'

In the bronze medal game for under-12 coed soccer, EBA Engineering defeated Norline Coaches 3-1.

The gold medal in the under-13 coed division went to Checkered Flag Recreation after a six-game round robin. Checkered Flag finished with a record of four wins, one loss and one tie for 13 points. Kayelle Management took home the silver medal after posting a 4-2-0 record for a total of 12 points while bronze went to the Dawson/Mayo Strikers, who finished at 3-2-1 with 10 points.

G. Peterson Contracting also had a 3-2-1 record and settled for fourth place with 10 points.

In under-15 coed soccer action, Qualita Cleaners snuck past Quantum Machine Works in a 3-2 nail biter to take the gold medal. Remax edged Salvation Army by a score of 2-1 to grab the bronze medal.

Well Read Books walked away with the gold in under-18 coed soccer, overpowering Assante Financial 4-3 in the final. Coach Bernice Carveth said the team played very well, considering the heat and the smoke from forest fires.

'And you're always wondering if enough kids are going to show up, because a lot of kids have already left for holidays and stuff,' she added. 'But it was good.'

Carveth said the entire team impressed her with their play throughout the tournament, especially the goaltender.

'Melissa Howell was just awesome,' she stated. 'It's hard enough getting goaltenders at the best of times, but to get a female goaltender at this age is great. And she played awesome.

'They all gave it everything they had this weekend.'

Carveth has been coaching minor soccer for five or six years she started coaching her son in the under-13 division and is familiar with most of the players on Well Read Books this season.

'I would just like to thank all my players for being just wonderful people,' she said.

In the other under-18 playoff game Sunday afternoon, Construction Consulting blanked the Electrical Shop 4-0 to pick up the bronze medal.

A total of 27 teams in four divisions took part in the annual McDonald's Yukon Soccer Championships on the weekend. Combined with the cross-field championships, which were held in Whitehorse June 12-13, 92 teams competed for medals in nine different age categories this year ó, more than 1,200 athletes up to the age of 18, both boys and girls.