With all the attention seemingly on male soccer within the Yukon lately, the Canada Summer Games female soccer team may have been somewhat overlooked.

But there's no way you can miss the tight-knit group when they take to the field, always determined and always in full support of each other.

'We've been playing together so long and we're all really, really good friends, so I think that gives us somewhat of an edge,' said 16-year-old team member Jenni Matchett.

'We have so much energy,' added teammate Aislinn Cornett, one of the veterans on the Games squad at 18 years old. 'We're a really unique bunch of girls. We have a lot of fun.

'When it comes down to it though, we know when it's time to work out on the field and when it's time to focus.'

The squad, sponsored by the Grey Mountain Lions, recently returned from a successful trip to B.C. and Alberta, bringing back a silver medal from the Kelowna Summer Classic soccer tournament on the Canada Day weekend.

The team entered in the Under-18 division as part of their training for the Summer Games, even though the Yukoners' ages range from 18 to 14. In their first game, the team took time adjusting to the heat when they met the hometown Kelowna United squad.

Yukon dominated the first half, although a strong clearing pass by Kelowna eluded their defense and the resulting breakaway translated into a 1-0 Kelowna lead at the end of the first half. The second half was equally strong for the Yukoners and the pressure finally paid off with a long goal by Annie Sessford, while Kelowna was trying to clear an opponent's corner kick. Although a number of other opportunities presented themselves, Yukon was not able to capitalize, and the score ended 1-1.

In the second game, the local crew played a weaker Edmonton SW Sting team. Yukon quickly set the pace and their superior conditioning soon wore down the Edmonton team. The first half ended 3-0 for Yukon, with goals from Jenni Matchett, Lia Johnson and Emily Sessford.

The second half mirrored the first, and Yukon came away with a 6-0 victory on second-half goals by Wheaton Symington, Aislinn Cornett and Matchett. Over the last half, goalie Emily MacKinnon only saw the ball once, with midfielders Jackie Harrison, Symington and Brooke Sinclair consistently breaking up Edmonton possession.

The final game of the round-robin format was against a strong team from Sherwood Park, Alta. Although both teams had their chances, particularly in the second half for the Yukon, the game ended in a scoreless draw. With the complicated points system for the tournament, Yukon ended up first in the division and Sherwood Park second.

Both teams met again on the final day in the gold medal game, played in the close to 30 degree heat of the Okanagan. The game proved to be a replay of the round-robin game, ending in a scoreless tie.

Yukon again had most of the chances in the second half, but couldn't convert. The gold medal was decided by a shootout after regulation time, and Sherwood Park triumphed to take home the gold.

Annie Sessford anchored a strong defense for the local crew allowing only one goal throughout the tournament alongside Melanie Marchand, Kiri Staples, Megan Coyne and Haley Stallabrass.

'I think we didn't really know how we would do with Outside competition until we went on this trip,' said Don Russell, who coaches the team along with Heather Alton. 'The thing that I was pleased with the most was the consistency. We played the same whether we were facing a strong team or a weaker team.'

Cornett and Matchett spoke specifically about the Sherwood Park games, pointing out that a bunch of the Yukoners played them two or three years ago, as members of the Northern Flames rep team.

'They beat us 8-0,' smiled Cornett. 'This time, the first game was 0-0 and then we lost to them in a shootout. I know we're going to be working on penalty shots now.

'We were proud of our performance, but definitely disappointed as well.'

Defensively, said Russell, the team only let one goal in, which was good. But offensively, he said, they needed to score more goals.

That's one of the things the team worked on when they travelled to Edmonton next, where they benefited from three days of coaching with Neil Turnbull. Turnbull coached the Canadian national women's team in the 1980's and 90's and took them to two World Cup appearances.

The team also had the chance to play a few exhibition games while in Edmonton.

'I think we're playing really well right now,' said Cornett. 'We had three games and we won one and lost two, but I think that was due mainly to fatigue.'

'And acclimatizing,' chimed in Matchett. 'It was really hot down there.'

But, said Matchett, the Yukoners really came together as a team during the entire trip, and every experience will help them at Canada Games in August.

Russell has been told by numerous people the Games squad is one of the better female teams to come out of the territory, but he said, you never know until you get to the actual competition.

The veterans on the team attended club nationals last year, where they played against Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, the two teams which they will face in their pool at Canada Games. While they didn't win those matches, they lost by a score of just 1-0 to Saskatchewan and 3-0 to Newfoundland.

Russell said they will sit down as a team just before they travel to Regina and go over their goals for the tournament. But besides beating the N.W.T., like they did in 2001, the Yukoners would ideally like to tie or beat at least one of the provinces they beat P.E.I. at club nationals last year.

'I want to upset one of the big teams,' said Matchett. 'We definitely have a chance against the Maritimes and Saskatchewan and for sure, the N.W.T. Manitoba and Saskatchewan could be close calls.

Matchett and Cornett agreed the game against Saskatchewan will be big, not only because it's their opener, but because Saskatchewan is the hometown team, so the crowd will be cheering against the Yukon.

'We'll have to play through that and that's going to be a big test for our team,' said Cornett.

One of the things Russell hopes to work on before Canada Games is keeping the team's shape and also very quick transition from attack to defence.

'Also, one of things we really need more practice in is defending in our 18-yard box. We didn't get a lot of that when we were Outside, because a lot of the teams weren't that strong,' he said.

Their strengths, said the coach, are in their conditioning and a strong bench.

'We're happy with the starting lineup and with the substitutions as well,' he said. 'There are really no weak positions.'

There are currently no serious injuries to any of the players on the team they are resting one player with a groin injury, but she is expected back next week. Other than that, it's basically 'just taping ankles.

'With seven games in eight days (on the recent trip), you're going to start seeing injuries,' said Russell. 'I think we were running out of tape by the end.'

For some of the female soccer players, like Cornett, this will be their last hurrah in the Yukon, as they head off to college and university in the fall. Others, like Matchett, are moving out of the territory for different reasons.

'So I think one of our goals is just to have as much fun with it as we can, and play to the best of our abilities,' said Cornett.

'Soccer is really growing in the Yukon,' added Matchett. 'So Canada Summer Games is really important for us, to just get the word out there that the Yukon is someone to be reckoned with.'