It might not be a cruise in the Caribbean or a backpacking expedition around Europe, but a trip to Vancouver has probably never seemed more exciting for four young Yukoners.

Ash Jordan, brothers Ammon and Boris Hoefs, and Nick Locke will be packing their bags this weekend and hopping a flight to the B.C. city from Edmonton early next week, in anticipation of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association's (CCAA) national soccer championships.

All four Yukon soccer players are members of the Grant MacEwan College Griiffins and on Monday night, the Griffins clinched the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) title with a thrilling overtime victory against their rival NAIT Ooks.

'The end result was awesome, but it was about as nerve-wracking as you can get,' said Boris, in an interview from Edmonton earlier this week.

The Griffins went into the provincial championships ranked first in their division, after NAIT and Concordia lost points due to ineligable players. Grant MacEwan had a bye into the semifinal, where they eventually took out Concordia in the second overtime.

For the final, the Griffins were supposed to play NAIT on Sunday in Calgary, but the game was cancelled because of snow. As the anticipation and nerves built up on both sides, the match was finally moved back to Edmonton on a field at the University of Alberta and set for Monday, even though the weather there wasn't much better.

'The wings on both sides of the field were still covered in three to four inches of snow,' said Ammon. 'It was a really, really scrappy game. It was pretty much pure guts, definately not pretty.'

The Ooks would strike first, but the Griffins manged to tie it before the end of the first half. The score remained 1-1 until about the 80th minute, when NAIT found the back of the net again.

'Everyone felt sick when they got that second goal,' said Boris. 'We were just freaking out. Everyone though we were done at that time.'

'When they scored the second goal, the conditions were so bad they could have quite easily kept a 2-1 lead for the final 10 or so minutes,' added Ammon.

But nobody on Grant MacEwan gave up and with just a few minutes remaining, the Griffins once again tied the game, stealing all the momentum as the game headed to overtime.

'We could just fell we were going to score the third goal and win it all,' stated Ammon.

Due to the weather, officials decided the teams would play two, five-minute Golden Goal overtime periods. While both teams had a couple of chances to start OT, it was the Griffins' Matt Cluney who provided the winner.

'The winning goal was incredible,' said Boris. 'It was about as gorgeous of a goal as you could ever see.'

The victory was especially gratifying for the Griffins because they hadn't beat NAIT at all last season and the girls' squad from MacEwan had just lost to NAIT the day before.

'The fact it was against NAIT made it even sweeter,' agreed Ammon, who is in his third season as a member of the Griffins.

Out of the four Yukoners, nobody has been waiting longer for an ACAC championship than Jordan, who has been with the team for four seasons two as captain but took on a role as assistant coach this time around.

'It's way different than playing, but it's just as satisfying,' he said. 'I get to help all the guys on the pitch, instead of just focusing on my own performance.

'I don't think it could have been a better rookie season for me as a coach, that's for sure.'

Ammons admitted it's 'kind of weird' having Ash as a coach this season, but added he actually likes it.

'He commands an awful lot of respect from all the guys. I think we can connect a little bit more with him, because we know him and he's around the same age.'

While the championship is certainly icing on the cake, the regular season was somewhat challenging for the Griffins. Like last year, Jordan said, they got off to a rocky start but fortunately this time, they were able to do what they had to do and turn it around.

Last season, they finished in third in their division, one point out of second place. The format was changed for this year, giving three teams from each division a birth in the playoffs, although that didn't affect the Griffins as they finished first.

'Ever since last season, we felt so robbed,' added Boris. 'We knew we had a lot more potential than we showed. We had 16 rookies last year so we were just starting to bond at the end.'

Statistics-wise, Boris said he hasn't had a great season, but he feels like he's playing better. As one of four returning strikers, Boris wasn't always given a starting position, but he said that made them all push each other harder.

'Boris didn't play as much at the beginning of the season, but instead of getting down on himself, he gave it everything he had in practice and on the field,' commented Ammon. 'By the end of the season, he was starting every game.'

Ammon also felt this season was 'up and down more', when it came to his personal stats.

'Last year, I took it upon myself to do everything for the team, but this year, everyone stepped up their game so it's a better feeling.'

Still, the speedy Yukoner led the team in goals, with 10, and was once again an alternate captain.

'He's one of the hardest workers on the team,' said Jordan. 'And his speed ... he's the fastest guy in the league. Boris is very similar. They're both always positive, they never make nergative comments.

'That's what we need out from all of our players. All the Yukon boys have that work ethic.'

This was Locke's first year with the Griffins, but his teammates from the territory agreed he fit in perfectly right from the start as a centre midfielder.

'He plays the style we like to play,' said Jordan. 'He played a pretty big role when we needed him there.'

A fifth Yukoner, Paul Fraughton, was also supposed to play a big role at Grant MacEwan this season. Fraughton, who suited up for the Griffins in 2005, tore his ACL in a pre-season tournament and has yet to play a game.

'That was a big knock to us, he adds another element,' said Ammon. 'We made due, but it would have been so much better to have him.

'Those of us who know him, know how passionate he is. Not being able to play was probably awful for him.'

Fraughton wasn't at the ACAC final Monday and he won't be making the trip to Vancouver, but Jordan knows he'll be cheering them on and expects he'll be back next season.

Boris said the ACAC championship is something all of them have been envisioning for two years, even before he, Fraughton and Locke had stepped foot on the field.

'We always talked about how, once we were there, maybe we could go all the way. It was definately something we always hoped for.'

Now, the Yukon crew will go for an even bigger goal a national championship. Starting next Wednesday in Vancouver, they'll be up against five other teams at the CCAA event, including B.C.'s Capilano College, the number-one ranked team in the country.

The two teams in their round-robin pool are Ontario's Algonquin College and host Langara College.

Halifax's Mount Saint Vincent and Quebec's Champlain Regional College will join Capilano in the second pool.

Boris said they're definately going to treat the nationals seriously, and take it as far as possible. Fellow ACAC team Mount Royal won the national championships two years ago, while NAIT was third in 2005.

'I've never been to college nationals, but a couple of the guys on our team have been and they say once you're there, anything can happen,' said Ammon.

'We definately have a chance at it,' added Jordan. We just need to keep everybody focused and fired up.

'This is probably the best team I've been involved with at Grant MacEwan.'