The Terra Firma Muckers lost their first game of the season and first contest playing in the Whitehorse Recreational Hockey Leagues' A' Division on Saturday.

The 4-1 loss to the Air North Jets ended Terra Firma's 20-game undefeated streak, which the team accumulated playing in the B' Division for the first half of the season.

'We have been challenged now and then, but consistently throughout the game this is the first time that we have been super challenged and we all liked it and got pretty pumped by it,' said Muckers centre Mike Evans. 'They were on us a lot quicker, we just didn't have as much time and space as we did in the 'B' (Division).'

A small, but enthusiastic group of fans came out to cheer on the Muckers and despite the loss seemed pleased with the teams' performance over the course of the 44-minute game.

Both teams didn't waste any time getting into the action and less than one minute into the game the games' first scoring chance was created off a slap shot from just inside the blue line, which forced Muckers goalie Randy Cichon to make a nice pad save.

Moments later, Air North goalie Adam Snow showed he was equal to the task, getting his body in front of a shot that came from right outside his crease.

The Jets capitalized on their next opportunity to give themselves a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the game. The goal was scored by Scott Horsey, who after streaking down the ice wasted little time putting the puck in the top corner of the net.

Great passing in the early going of the game helped the Muckers get the puck out of their zone. It also resulted in a number of shots on goal, forcing Snow to make a few timely saves, including one at the 17-minute mark where he slid across the crease to stop a shot made directly in front of the net.

At just under the halfway point of the period, the Jets had an opportunity to add to their lead with a two-on-one rush, but the lone defensemen on the Muckers played it perfectly, sliding out to break up the pass attempt.

After another failed two-on-one breakaway chance, the Jets scored again with 1:31 left in the period on a slap shot by Horsey that just tricked through the five-hole of Cichon to cross the line.

Shots on goal at the end of the first period were Jets 11, Terra Firma nine.

The Muckers started off the second period on a power play, but it was Air North who would once again add to their lead after a nice pass was put in from directly in front of Terra Firma's goal at 19:58. Greg Charlie scored the goal and Ryan Kinney got the assist.

Being down by three didn't faze the Muckers at all, who scored just 12 seconds later, to the delight of the small crowd, right after the centre ice faceoff. The goal was scored by Steve Israel, who beat Snow glove side to cut Air North's lead to 3-1.

A funny bounce off the back boards just a few minutes later restored Air North's three goal lead.

Despite the large deficit, The Muckers never gave up and carried the play for the remainder of the game, forcing Snow to make a number of saves right up until the end. The final shots on net were Muckers 26, Jets 20.

The crowd, who remained supportive the whole way through, cheered as the Muckers went to congratulate their goalie for a valiant effort.

Marie-Maude Allard was a part of the group who was cheering for Terra Firma. She said she was pleased with the team's performance in their first game of competition in the 'A' Division.

'They did pretty good, they gave all they could do and I think they played mostly on the offensive zone, so that was pretty exciting,' Allard said. 'I think the other guys they have a really good goalie, it was quite exciting for both sides.'

Allard has a number of friends who play on Terra Firma and said every time she comes to watch one of their games, there are always at least five or six people there to support them.

Allard occasionally brings her accordion to some of the teams' games, saying 'This is a special weapon; you use it only in special occasions.'

The team has never lost when Allard has brought the accordion and she said she plans on saving it for something big like the playoffs.

Douglas Ponsioen, who mostly plays in the forward position on the Jets, said he was impressed with how the Muckers played.

'I thought they were a pretty aggressive team, they played well,' he said.

Ponsioen said with a little bit more experience playing in the A' Division, the Muckers should be ready to compete with any team.

Despite the loss, Evans said it was a great experience playing in the A' Division for the first time.

'It was good speed and caught us by surprise a little bit for the first five minutes, but we picked it up and started playing our positions and started going hard at the puck and we had a good time,' he said. 'I think we played pretty hard and we definitely had the last ten minutes on them, but we just couldn't get past the goalie, lots of shots though.'

Evan's isn't sure what the Muckers overall record will be now, but added that the players on the team don't care and are just glad about switching over.

In other Whitehorse Recreational League action, Sports North played Narrow Gauge Contracting to a 5-5 tie on Sunday in the B' Division.

Sports North 5,

Narrow Gauge Contracting 5

Rob Hill led the way for Sports North with two goals and one assist, while Dave Richard, Scott Palfreyman and Ken Olson each scored once.

Other notables include Colin Dawe, who finished with two assists, while Terry Slonski, Richard Graham and Mitch Malchow each added an assist.

Andrew Johnson scored the most goals for Narrow Gauge Contracting with two, while Adrien Bergman, Scott MacDonald and Milo Jordan each scored once.

James Maltby ended the game with two assists, while Aaron Coates, Chris Kostelnick, Yves Paradis and Dan MacDonald each added one assist.

Roadhouse 4,

Yukon Appliance Agitators 3

Roadhouse scored with just over two minutes left in the game to get the victory in the A' Division on Sunday.

Darren Vanlangen and Clayton Thomas each scored twice, while Ryan Hodgins, Andrew Sprokkreeff and Chris Johnson each finished with an assist.

Rob Wells led the way for Yukon Appliance with a goal and one assist, while Daryn Leas and Wyatt Drift each scored once.

Other notables include Eric Kositsin, Brian Currie and Pat Kenny who each finished with one assist in the loss.

ORC Tree Services 13,

Kluane Drillers 5

ORC scored nine goals in the first period and had seven players finish with multiple points to get the win in Saturday's game in the B' Division.

Jordan Johnston led the team in both scoring and total points with five goals and three assists.

Dan Crawford also had a great game, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists, while Ben Cole finished with two goals and one assist.

Dan Johnson and Jeremy Hookham each scored one goal and added three assists, while Arlo Riordan scored once and added four assists.

Other notables include Dan Cole, who had two assists, while Mike Wilson, Matt Johnson and Blair MacDonald each finished with one assist.

Doug Roberts finished with two goals and three assists for the Kluane Drillers, while Braden Thompson, Mark Daniels and Matt King each scored once in the loss.

Yukon Appliance Agitators 9, Boston Pizza/Yukon Rad 7

Yukon Appliance scored an incredible eight goals in the second period to get the victory in Saturday's A' Division's game against Boston Pizza/Yukon Rad.

Wyatt Drift scored a hat trick for Yukon Appliance and added two assists, while Spencer Tomlin finished with one goal and two assists.

Daryn Leas scored a goal and added an assist, while Rob Wells, Ryan Martin, Jason Berkers and Cary Goodman each scored once.

Jakub Jirousek had two assists and Eric Kositsin finished with one assist.

Derek Johnstone had an amazing five goal game for Boston Pizza/Yukon Rad in the loss, while Bryan Curial finished with a goal and three assists.

Nelson Turnbull scored one goal and added an assist, while Dean Mastrangelo and Lance Brown each added two assists.

Roadhouse 3,

Whitehorse Midget Mustangs 3

Roadhouse was able to score a goal in the last five minutes of Friday's game in the A' Division to force the tie against the Whitehorse Midget Mustangs.

Goal scorers for Roadhouse included Jake Derksen, Troy Cairns and Joe Mason, who each scored once.

Shayne King, Mark King and Chris Johnson each added one assist.

Nicholas Swizdaryk led the way for the Mustangs with two goals, while Kane Dawe scored once.

Daniel Legoffe, Fraser Love, Lowell Johnston and Tanner Kulych each finished with one assist.

ORC Tree Services 6,

U Brew Bruins 4

Danny Crawford led the way for ORC, in the B' Division on Friday, with two goals and one assist, while Jordan Johnston, Dan Johnson, Jeremy Hookham each finished with a goal and one assist.

Blair MacDonald scored once, while Josh Clark and Mike Wilson each finished with one assist.

Tyson Hawkins scored two goals for the U Brew Bruins, while Kevin Smith and Blayne Monahan finished with a goal and one assist.

George Skookum and Jesse Bowe each finished with one assist.

Air North Jets 9,

Boston Pizza/Yukon Rad 3

Scorers on Friday in the A' Division for Air North included Darius Elias, with three; Scott Horsey, with two; and Ryan Kinney, Tim MacIntosh, Shawn Kinsella and Matt Horsey who each scored once.

Scorers for Boston Pizza/Yukon Rad were Rob Johnson, Lance Brown and Ed Peart.