Taking on club teams on the Pacific coast, two Yukon teams found success on the international stage.

Both the men’s and women’s Whitehorse Curling Club squads advanced to the playoffs at the Pacific International Cup in Richmond, B.C. with the men’s team securing their fourth-straight medal.

The competition is split into a pool of B.C. teams and international teams – with the Yukon grouped into that pool with teams from across the United States as well as teams from Australia and Singapore.

The Yukon men’s team of skip Tyler Williams, third Kevin Yost, second Scott Williamson and lead Bob Walker won the bronze medal in the international division, with the Yukon team taking the bronze prize for the second year in a row.

This was the fourth year in a row for Williams as skip for the Yukon squad at the event and his fourth consecutive year on the podium. In his first two tries, the team won the silver and took bronze for the last two outings.

“It’s a great accomplishment to medal four years in a row, but it’s tough getting so close four years in a row and not winning it,” Williams said.

The skip was close again winning tight games in the round robin to finish 5-2 in the round robin, good for third place and a spot in the pool semifinal against Arizona who they lost to in the round-robin.

Williams said the tournament provides a neat opportunity to play teams they wouldn’t necessarily see in local competitions, especially the Australian squad who made the long trip up north for the event.

The Yukon team dropped the semi-final game by a score of 9-2 to Arizona, who went on to win the international pool with a 7-6 win over Washington – the one other team that defeated the Yukon squad in the tournament.

On the women’s side, skip Laura Eby and her team of Lorna Spenner, Tamar Vandenburghe, Janine Peters and Laura Williamson had their best performance at the event winning a total of six games and missing out on a semifinal spot by one point.

The team finished the round robin 5-2 and in a four-way tie for second place.

Based on the tie-breaker format, the team had to play and win both tie-breaker games to qualify for the semifinals.

In the first must-win game, they beat Oregon 9-8, a team they lost to in the round-robin.

“We had to play three games right away for nine hours straight,” Eby said of their busy Saturday. “We were eating carrot sticks and cucumbers on the ice.”

After winning the first tie-breaker, they went right into their second must-win game against the rested team from Washington and lost a tight game 7-6.

“The team did great,” Eby said reflecting on the event. “They upheld their stamina which was awesome. We felt pretty good about how we did.”

With several close games and the four-way tie, Eby said the competition was very stiff and it was fun to be able to curl against teams they hadn’t played before.

“It’s fantastic. Everybody there is just so cordial and inviting. It was so fun to meet all those people,” she said.

The two Whitehorse teams had the opportunity to cheer each other on throughout the competition as well, which Eby said definitely helped with their comfort level.

“We got to cheer each other on quite a bit actually,” she said. “We hung out with them as much as we could. They’re great supporters.”