It was a jam-packed couple of days for players in both the 2008 Yukon junior and senior high school soccer championships.

When the dust finally settled on Friday it was the Vanier Crusaders and the F.H. Collins Warriors that came out on top, winning their respectable divisions for this year's tournament.

"It feels great because these guys worked hard and it's only two games of playing (in the playoffs) so it's pretty intense," said Janet Clarke, the coach for Vanier's Grade 8 and 9 team. "They played very well together as a team."

All three high schools participated in the co-ed tournament.This year's high school soccer tournament featured two divisions of competition, which besides the Grade 8 and 9, included a senior high school category.

The senior category was made up of Grade 10, 11 and 12 students.

The senior high school category was just a straight round robin and didn't include a playoff format.

There were five teams in total in the senior competition, including two from both F.H. Collins Secondary School and Porter Creek Secondary School.

After the conclusion of the round robin, F.H. Collins A took the top spot, recording an impressive four straight victories.

F.H. won its final game 5-2 to secure the first place finish, just three points ahead of the second place Crusaders.

Vanier Secondary School finished with a record of 3-1, which included a tournament best two shutouts.

F.H. B rounded out the top three with a 2-2 record and six points.

The Crusaders had an outstanding round robin in the Grade 8 and 9 division. The team got off on a 6-1 winning note, before tying its second contest by a score of 3-3.

The tie was thanks in large part to Vanier's Robyn Fortune, who netted the team's third goal with around five minutes remaining in the game.

The Crusaders finished the round robin with a 6-3 win. The team shutdown F.H. A in its semi-final playoff game, winning 2-0.

In the final, Vanier took on the Porter Creek Rams. Despite a great effort from the Rams, Vanier took the game by a final score of 5-3. Ninth grader Kurtis Hills played outstanding for the Crusaders, finishing with a hat trick, while Michael Hare and James Boyle each notched a goal of their own.

Scorers for the Rams included Scott Peterson, Mike Wintemute and Marten Sealy.

Sealy, 13, had a great tournament for the Rams, finishing with eight goals in total.

He said finishing in second place is an accomplishment in itself.

"We played pretty good," Sealy said. "We didn't know if we would get to the gold medal game, so we were pretty proud with silver."

Don Fedus, the coach of the Grade 8 and 9 Porter Creek squad, said he was pleased with the way his team played in the tournament.

"It was a great weekend," he said.

"It's a fun tournament, it's a good way to kick off the school year for the kids. For us it was about our kids getting out and having fun and everyone played. We tried to keep it as equal as possible. Our team was all Grade 8s, so it's a good way to get to know each other."

The annual elementary school soccer tournament will be held later this week.

Organizers are still searching for referees and those interested can call Dave Stockdale at 668-3358.