A group of young Yukon Strikers are celebrating a silver medal win from the 15th annual Revelstoke Little Bear Soccer Tournament.

The team, a mixture of 11- and 12-year-old boys, won three straight games to earn a berth in the final against Canmore Sept. 7, before running into a hot goalie and losing 4-1.

Top striker Joe Hanson was denied on four clean breakaways before finally denting the twine.

On the first day of competition in B.C., the Yukon squad beat Kootenay South 5-1 and Nelson 4-3 to earn top spot in their pool.

They went on to beat Williams Lake 3-2 in a very evenly-matched contest during Sunday’s semifinal.

“I thought that was the best game for our team, where they challenged us and we challenged them,” coach Derric Lewis said.

Playing with a team that consisted of many players new to Outside tournaments, the veteran Hanson led the way in the goal-scoring department.

“Pretty much Joe just scored all our goals,” said Lewis.

Hanson also won a skills competition for juggling.

“For those playing Outside for the first time, going and getting silver was big for them,” said Lewis. “They were really excited about that.”

The Yukon team was built with players who have been on the fringes of the Strikers, in an effort to get them an Outside tournament experience.

Team members included Hanson, Kaelen Lewis, Simon Hassard, Curtis Cash, Deron Phelps, Austin Franks, Nathan Scully and Dylan Currie.

Three guest players from Revelstoke joined the team for the two-day eight-on-eight style tournament, which featured nine teams.