Three Yukon squads put their skills up against the country's best at the annual Canadian Club soccer championships, which concluded Monday in the Maritimes.

Despite the players giving it their all and generating numerous scoring chances, the boys' U-14 Firth Rangers were the only Yukon team to register a victory at this year's nationals.

Thanks to a goal by Kurtis Hills, the boys' team ended up winning 2-1 against Newfoundland in thrilling fashion in its fourth game of the championships.

Hills netted both goals for the Rangers, which included a penalty kick and then a clutch double overtime marker to give his team the victory.

"Anytime you beat a province it's special," said Firth Rangers coach Bruce Thomson. "It really brought the boys spirits up and allowed them to hold their heads up high and come back happy."

Tournament organizers in Charlottetown didn't do the U-14 boys' team any favours, placing the squad in one of the toughest pools at the nationals, which featured three of the teams that would end up placing in the top five.

The group began the nationals in a tough match against a powerhouse team from B.C., which ended up being a little too quick and skilled for the Yukoners. The final score was 10-0 in B.C.'s favour.

The team's second game against Alberta wasn't any easier, but the result was a little better. The Yukoners ended up dropping the game 6-0.

After a 10-0 loss to Nova Scotia, the Firth Rangers bounced back against Newfoundland in what turned out to be the team's best game of the tournament.

With Newfoundland leading 1-0 at the midway point of the second half, Hills made no mistake, capitalizing on a penalty shot to send the contest into overtime.

Not long into the second overtime, Hills struck once again, scoring after a nice pass from midfield sent him into the Newfoundland zone. Hills made no mistake, getting around the lone defender as well as the goalie and ended the game with a well placed shot into the corner of the net.

The team's final game against P.E.I. was also close, but unfortunately ended in a 2-0 loss. With the loss against P.E.I., the Firth Rangers finished in 10th place out of 12.

Thomson said the best finish the Yukon has ever had at the soccer nationals was ninth place, which the Firth Rangers could have equalled with a second win against P.E.I.

The Yukon U-14 Firth Rangers left the nationals with more than just the one win as it was also given the boys' sportsmanship award, which was awarded after the conclusion of the five-game tournament.

Thomson said he was pleased with the effort his boys displayed in Charlottetown.

"I was pleased with them," he said. "They were good ambassadors for the Yukon, they played well."

The Yukon U-14 Wildfire girls' team also won the sportsmanship award in Charlottetown. Despite a gutsy effort, the girls team finished the tournament with an 0-5 record. The team's closest contest was a 3-0 loss to P.E.I. in the final game.

"It's not easy to continue playing through an 11-0 loss (against B.C.)," said team coach Monique Bennett. "It's difficult for them to go out on the field each game, knowing that there's a chance that they are going to get slaughtered, but they got through it and they remained positive after the game and continued to have fun. I am glad that we had the experience and would certainly do it again."

The Yukon U-16 boys team also ran into some bad luck throughout its five contests at the nationals in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The squad finished 0-5, but had a couple of close showings in their two final games of the tournament.

The U-16 Yukoners improved as the tournament went on and saved its best game for last in a battle against P.E.I.

Trailing by two with around 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Yukon boys' broke its goose egg on a nice goal by Travis Olnyk.

Olnyk made it look easy, beating both the goalie and defender to the ball, dribbling it around the netminder to send it into the open net.

P.E.I. was fortunate to get the win in this contest with the Yukon team carrying most of the play throughout the 90 minutes.

The Yukon squad's chances included a couple of crossbars, hitting a fellow teammate on the goal line, just missing a deflection on the goal line as well as several opportunities where players came close to a breakaway.

Despite the 0-5 record, team coach Jake Hanson said he was proud of the way the boys played.

"All in all I thought the boys competed in every game for most of the 90 minutes and I was proud of them," he said. "I think they were certainly deserving of being proud of their effort as well."