The Yukon Brewing Lead Dawgs may have come up short in their quest for gold.

But the club surpassed its expecations at the 2010 World Broomball Championships in Innsbruck, Austria.

The Lead Dawgs beat Japan 1-0 today to win bronze in the mixed category in just their second appearance at the world championships.

Becky Brauen scored the game's only goal off a feed from Ahanna Epp to push the Yukon past a defensive Japanese side.

Milford Allain, president of the Yukon Broomball Association, said the key to the bronze-medal game was to break down Japan's solid defense by scoring early.

"Japan is a very defensive team, they don't have a lot of offensive force, but they just wait for the opportunity to send their offense because they're very fast,” said

Allain, who has been reporting to the Star after connecting with the team in Austria.

A rivalry between the Lead Dawgs and Japan has already started to form.

Today's game marked the third time the two clubs clashed at the world championships.

In 2008, Japan knocked the Yukon out of the finals for the Challenge Cup, the trophy fought for by the tourney's bottom four teams.

The Lead Dawgs got revenge by beating the Japanese 1-0 in the round robin of their 2010 campaign.

"It seems to be turning into a rivalry,” Allain laughed, adding: "I wish it would have been a bigger gap, but 1-0's good. Any win is a good win, as they say. I think the team was thinking forth was good enough, but third is obviously a much better position.

"It just goes to show that the Yukon has some of the best broomball players in the world.”

The Yukoners were knocked out of the gold medal game after their 2-1 loss to New Brunswick in the semi-finals.

Allain reported that the Lead Dawgs got off to a sluggish start, conceding two goals in the first half.

In the second half, the team switched tactics, shortening its bench and changing the offense, which swung the momentum.

Josh Hirsh scored in a second half which saw the Yukon all over the Maritimers.

After pulling their goalie, the Yukon failed to capitalize on numerous scoring chances, Allain said.

"They were a little bit somber, because they felt they should have won it, they felt they controlled the game for the most part, but sometimes it's just not the way it goes,” he said.

"They just felt that, in the end, they were right there, but they did need maybe a few more key positions; but in the end the tournament was exactly what they hoped for.”

The Lead Dawgs downed Australia 1-0 to top their group after a round robin in which the Yukoners went undefeated, winning four and tying one.

The first hiccup came in the club's opening World Cup game, against the Ontario Wildcats yesterday.

"They're a little disappointed in their game against Ontario,” Allain said. "They felt that they should have won it.

It was a mistake that caused the goal.”

The Wildcats handed the Yukon its first loss of the tournament, a loss that pitted the Yukon against a tough New Brunswick team.

"They said their goal was to get into the top four in the worlds, and they're very happy with that result,” Allain said. "They've reached their goal, so in the end they're happy.”

Allain hopes the Lead Dawgs' inspired result will garner more attention to the sport in the Yukon.

"I think the league as a whole hopes more people will become interested, and to see that there are opportunities for people of all ages, in the adult league and in the youth league, that there's big potential for Outside tournaments and international tournaments. In a lot of other sports you don't get that chance or opportunity.”