Less population.

Less game experience.

These realities showed in the Yukon Selects' results at the Challenge Trophy national championships held in Brossard, Que., from Oct. 5-10.

The Selects lost their first four games before beating Yellowknife FC 3-2 in their fifth and final match, narrowly escaping a last-place finish.

Despite the battles Yukoners face even before heading to a national tournament, the squad set high expectations on itself, even dubbing the club the best the territory had fielded at the senior nationals.

All of the territory's premier players were committed, in other words, for the first time since the Selects' program began a decade ago.

For their 2011 campaign, the Selects drew Suburban FC from Nova Scotia and Mont-Royal Outremont from Quebec in the opening round.

Nova Scotia 2, Yukon 1

The Yukon's opening match against Nova Scotia started with both sides playing cautiously, locked in the mid-field,

before Suburban forward Jonathan Cordoba broke free twice to put the east-coast club ahead 2-0 heading into the

half-time break.

In the second half, the Yukoners dug in with hard tackles and fluency in their counter attack.

That fight paid dividends when left-back Harrison Kwok crossed the ball from the right flank onto the head of Kyle Risby, who's glancing header found the top corner.

The Selects attributed the disorganized and timid play in the first half to the first time the club had competed together, and chose to focus on the positives of the second half to prepare for taking on the hosts the following day.

Quebec 4, Yukon 0

If day one was fun for the Yukon, day two was work.

The Selects squared off against Quebec champs Mont-Royal Outremont on their second day of competition.

Despite the clear differences in population and experience, the Selects surprised the Quebecers with some positive runs forward in the early minutes of the first half.

Brothers Jeff and Kurtis Hills linked up for two chances in close, forcing the Outremont keeper to come off his line to challenge.

But the Quebec club showed why they finished top of their league, opening up the mid-field and counter attacking to create chance after chance.

That pressure eventually broke the Selects: Quebec took a 1-0 lead into half time.

The second half was a different story. Fitness and experience in the late minutes saw Quebec add another three goals to relegate the Yukon to fight for the bottom four spots.

New Brunswick 1, Yukon 0

If ever there was a demoralizing game of soccer…

The Selects faced the Picaroons from New Brunswick in their first match in the battle for ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th place.

With no substitutions, New Brunswick let the ball do the work from opening kick off, keeping possession at the

back and playing route-one ball when gaps opened in the Selects formation.

New Brunswicker Jason Bessey sniped his province's only goal in the first half. Despite running themselves ragged in the second half, the Yukon failed to create enough quality scoring chances to find the back of the net.

Manitoba 3, Yukon 1

The Selects put the previous day's disappointment behind them for their match-up against Winnipeg Juventus.

Juventus shocked a flat-footed Selects side in the early going with a header off the cross bar and a handful of near misses.

But the Yukon bared down in the mid-field, pressured the ball and broke free for chances of their own.

After going down a goal part-way through the first half, Kurtis Hills evened the score by tipping the ball past the Winnipeg keeper, boosting the Yukon's momentum after 45 minutes.

Then came the cards: the referee flashed nine cards in all, five yellows and a red to Manitoba and three yellows to the Yukon.

Despite being up a man, however, the Yukon failed to move the ball from the back, hold possession in mid-field and make creative runs off the ball up front.

Manitoba scored a penalty. Yukon missed a penalty.

Yukon 3, Northwest Territories 2

Muscles tightened, cuts reopened and blisters broke on the last day of competition. But despite all this, the

Selects and Yellowknife FC were able to focus on the task at hand. Somehow.

After several misses inside the 18-yard box, the Selects started to find the net near the end of the first half.

Selects' forward Kurtis Hills found the top shelf with a header off a cross from Kwok. The Yukon added its second after knocking the ball around in mid-field before springing speedy winger Steve Dynes, who tipped the ball past the N.W.T.'s keeper to bring the score to 2-0 at half-time.

The second half saw the Yukon miss its second penalty of the tournament. Yellowknife FC capitalized with two goals of their own before Selects' substitute Donnie Richardson scored the winning goal off a redirected shot from 20 yards out.

While the result was less-than-desired, the Selects enjoyed stand out performances from 17-year-old Kurtis Hills, central defenders CJ Rheame and Dillon Vickerman, and Jake Hanson, who helped start the Selects program in 2001.