Dig in for 90 minutes no matter what happens.

That was what compelled the five Yukon soccer clubs sent to the BMO National Championships to gain some respectable scores, even win a game or two, over the weekend.

The under-18 boys traveled to St. John's, N.L., the U-16 boys and girls went to Vaughn, Ont., and the U-14 boys and girls went to Moncton, N.B.

With two wins, the U-18 boys had arguably the best showing, beating Nova Scotia 4-3 in their third game and beating Newfoundland and Labrador 6-2 in their final game.

As well, the Yukon boys had a solid 2-0 showing against Ontario.

The U-16 boys got off to a rocky start in their opening matches – losing to Ontario 9-0 and Manitoba 10-0 – but ended the round robin with a 3-1 loss to New Brunswick.

The U-16s final two games were also more competitive, losing to New Brunswick 4-1 and Prince Edward Island 5-4.

"It was an exciting finish because we were in the lead for large parts of the game against P.E.I.,” U-16 boys head coach Arnold Hedstrom said. "They were a big club and they were quite a bit more physical than us; we came out of it quite wounded, lots of hacking and kicking…they took a lot of cards as a result of it. But it was a

competitive, physical game.”

The game was tied up with two minutes to go, when P.E.I. scored two quick goals to make it 5-3, and within the last minute of the game the Yukon notched another point.

Yukon striker Kurtis Hills scored five goals throughout the tournament and Thomas Scoffin scored the territory's other goal.

"We went into the tournament expecting tough competition, and indeed found it in our group,” Hedstrom said, noting that his club's two opening matches were against eventual gold medalists Ontario and eventual silver medalists Manitoba.

He added that his club's expectations heading into nationals were simple.

"Namely that we never give up, and try to score a goal, even if it's the last minute, because it could make a difference for ourselves and even our opponents in the standings,” Hedstrom said.

"And also, knowing that they were tough teams, to say, ‘How many 10 minute blocks can we go without being scored on.' And we achieved that goal against Ontario at least five times; and we had 20 or 25 minute stretches against Manitoba where we kept them off the score sheet.”

In the end, the teams were just too strong – big, fast and organized – Hedstrom added.

By contrast to the powerhouses, New Brunswick was a closely matched team for the Yukon, he said.

"The games (against New Brunswick) were really competitive,” Hedstrom said, adding about their first game against N.B., "It was a really close game right to the end…we were pushing to tie or get goals near the end, and they got a couple fast breaking goals on us in each of the games.

"The second game against New Brunswick was almost a carbon copy of the first.”

The Yukon finished 12th in the tournament, and will get an 11th-seed ranking for next year's nationals, because the second host team is always ranked last.

The U-16 girls dropped their first game to Alberta 15-0, their second game 8-0 against Nova Scotia and their third game 12-0 to New Brunswick.

Past the round robin, the U-16 girls lost 13-0 to Newfoundland and Labrador and Manitoba 13-0.

The U-14 boys found better luck hitting the back of the net, with an 18-1 loss to Quebec, a 12-0 loss against B.C. and a 5-1 loss to P.E.I.

The boys followed their opening stage performance with an 8-3 loss to P.E.I. and a 1-0 win over New Brunswick.

The U-14 girls lost all five of their games: 12-0 to B.C., 4-0 against Newfoundland, 11-0 against New Brunswick, 2-0 to Saskatchewan and 4-0 to New Brunswick.

"We didn't quite reach our goal of winning one game,” U-14 girls coach Tony Gaw said. "But all-in-all the girls, for a young team, played very well and held their own very well.”

He noted the game against Saskatchewan as his club's strongest performance.

"I think the girls were a little more focused on that game,” Gaw said, adding that the team was together just five weeks before nationals, leaving room for little preparation.

"It would be nice to be with a team for a full year. Considering that, they did really well. I was real pleased with the way it went. A longer preparation period would have been more beneficial.”

Hedstrom added that when Patrick Tobo, Canada's U-17 assistant coach, visited Whitehorse last August, he had some encouraging words for Yukon soccer.

"Even against really tough opponents, we just kept fighting and fighting, because we wanted to keep them off the score sheet for that one goal, or more importantly try to get a goal,” Hedstrom said. "And he said that's what really impressed him the most about the Yukon team, is that it never really gave up anything to some really big clubs.”