Competition brought out the best in the players on two Yukon soccer teams training for separate national championships.

Despite falling behind by one midway through the first half, the Yukon Selects battled their way back into the contest.

The team netted two unanswered goals in its 2-1 win over the territory's U-18 Canada Summer Games soccer squad Wednesday at the George White Soccer Field.

With the win, the Yukon Selects improved its record to 4-1 over the Under 18s.

"We just have to play hard from the get go," said Yukon Selects goaltender George Maratos. "We were giving them way too much space (early on) and we weren't playing aggressively. That was reflective of the score, but I think we settled down and played well."

The U-18 boys' team was just finalized on Monday, with the last four spots and two alternates.

The group has been together since being named on an identification list of about 40 this past fall.

When the indoor season concluded there were 23 players still in the mix and on May 15, the first eight were chosen.

On June 1, five more names were added to the roster and then the final four and two alternates were picked on Monday.

The team's next major competition will be the USA Cup, a tournament that starts mid-July in Minnesota.

The Yukon Selects, meanwhile, are preparing for the Canadian Nationals in Saskatoon this October.

The U-18 boys' carried most of the play for the opening half and benefitted from the play of striker Caleb Kelly. Kelly had more than a few close chances, before eventually netting the game's first goal around 25 minutes in.

Kelly capitalized after the Yukon Selects were unable to clear the ball after a throw in was made deep in their zone. His shot sailed over the outstretched hand of Maratos, landing just under the cross bar.

The goal seemed to wake up the Yukon Select players a little bit. The team started increasing the pressure on the U-18s and eventually were rewarded with a goal of their own.

Maratos got the play started, firing the ball down the field into the Canada Games team's zone. Victor Lavenderos finished the play after he got behind the U-18 defence and fired the ball into the net to tie it up at 1-1.

There were a few chances for both teams to pull ahead in the second half, most notably a penalty kick from Yukon Selects' Harrison Kwok, who just missed short side.

With time ticking away, Mike Deluca put in the group's second goal and Yukon Select's netminder Charlie Hoeller shut down any offensive charges made by the U-18s.

Despite the loss, Jake Hanson, coach of the Canada Summer Games boys' soccer team, said he was pleased with the way his players battled.

"They are competing," he said. "It's something that we talked about in practice (on Tuesday) was the importance of competing."

"We have a very physically fit, strong team with a lot of technical ability, but we definitely need to compete harder against the men's team. I told them it isn't necessary that they win the challenges, but they at least need to challenge. They at least need to compete to win and that's all I really ask."

He said playing the Yukon Selects is good preparation for the team.

"I just look back to 2005," Hanson said. "The men selects played a weekly game against the Canada Games team then. That Canada Games team went and in the very first game tied Nova Scotia 1-1.

"I really feel that games like were a big reason why the team was able to have that success."