Yukon's male soccer team is set for a showdown with B.C. today at the 2022 Niagara Canada Summer Games.

The Star reached Team Yukon Technical Director Sean Fleming during the team's off-day Wednesday.

He said morale is good after two games in a short time.

"I couldn't be more proud of them," stated Fleming.

Team Yukon got off to a less-than-ideal start against Alberta Tuesday en route to a 2-nil loss.

"It was a tough way to start," said Fleming. "If we tie or win yesterday, we'd go through in the top group. I knew it was going to be a tough task. There's no doubt they're a quality team. And I just thought if we can keep it 0-0 for some time, that would really put some pressure on them. We had a freak deflection go towards their player and he tapped it in."

Fleming was happy with how his team responded after the early goal, which occurred only two minutes into the game.

"It could have easily been 'Oh, we're tired, we just finished playing 18 hours ago' but we battled away," related Fleming. "Alberta had a little bit of an edge in the play, they had a few chances, but nothing our keeper, Callum Weir, couldn't handle. We created some things, we kept the ball for a little bit at times, which is very promising, so lots of good things out of it."

"They went very direct at us," Fleming recalled. "They have athletic kids, they're quick kids, some really gifted kids.

One kid just came back from Whitecaps residency, some have played with CPL clubs, so they've got some real quality on their team.

"I really felt for the most part we did well. We carried out the game plan, the strategy we wanted to do, in terms of our covering spaces."

Fleming said they wanted to work on their counter attack and transitions to offence.

"We didn't get too many opportunities but of course we didn't execute as well as we should and then we could have had a real opportunity but overall, in all the circumstances, with all the quality that our players showed, I was really happy at the end ... the players did a lot of good things and at the end of the day, that's what would carry it for me – how well they did.

"We wanted to play the ball through our midfield as much as possible but it's difficult," he added.

Fleming had to pick up the lads after the Alberta game.

"Some of them had their heads down cause they're disappointed and I just said 'Wait a minute, we're not doing that. You have represented your territory with great pride and great effort.' Nobody gave up. They fought right until the very end.

"At the end, I'm glad they were a little disappointed. I want them to show that pride," added Fleming.

"One of my colleagues, who's a head coach of a CPL team, texted me today and said that 2-0 loss is like a win, in the context of the players we were playing and everything ... when I have an objective friend like that give me that kind of compliment, that's a great credit for the kids," related Fleming.

The next challenge facing the boys is Team B.C. They kick off at 1:30 pm Yukon time today. The game is scheduled to be live-streamed on https://niagara2022games.ca

"It doesn't get any easier tomorrow," asserted Fleming. "B.C.'s as good of a team as Alberta, if not better. This is what happens when you win ... we're not gonna have any easy games. It's a great challenge for the boys tomorrow as well."

The team spent the off-day productively.

"We had a regeneration session this morning," said Fleming. "Guys were getting treatments on their aches and pains and now we have to get ready to play tomorrow. If we're not ready to play, it's gonna be a hard day ... so we're doing everything we possibly can.

Fleming is looking to change at least one thing from the Alberta game.

"We want to make sure we have a good start ... I want them at full belief, to go all out and just leave it all in the park right from the start.

"We're playing an absolute quality team tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to and I think they are too."

The Team Yukon guru added "We really appreciate all the great comments that I know Jake Hanson's receiving from many people back in Whitehorse and we always feel the support from Yukon and we appreciate it and we're going to try to go and do you proud tomorrow (today) again."

Meanwhile, in Female Basketball, Team Yukon played Newfoundland and Labrador in the Consolation round L16 vs. L13 game today at 12:15.

The male basketball team also played today in the Consolation round L16 vs. L13 game at 12:15 versus Manitoba.

Mountain biking finished up Wednesday with the relays. In the Female Relay, Team Yukon, consisting of the Roldan sisters, Mara and Mathilde, finished seventh in 50:11.000. Team Yukon didn't have an entry in the Male Relay race.

In swimming Wednesday, in the Female 200 Metre Freestyle, Erin Delaurier finished seventh in Race 1 in 2:27.08. In Race 2, Kale Massie came in fifth in 2:26.66 and Avery Kinsella clocked in eighth in 2:30.96. Sabine Keesey touched the wall in third place in Race 3 with a time of 2:17.59.

In the overall standings, Keesey finished 17th, Massie 20th, Kinsella 46th and Delaurier 49th.

In the Male 200 Metre Freestyle, Race 1 featured three Yukon swimmers. Liam Gishler came in first in 2:22.90, Hugh Stopps was third in 2:33.80, followed by William Sugden in fourth in 2:44.36. In Race 5, Thomas Gishler finished fourth in 1:59.95. That vaulted him into the B Final, where he finished second in an even faster 1:59.89. Gishler finished 10th overall.

Liam Gishler came in 23rd overall, with Stoops in 47th, followed by Sugden in 48th.

In the Female 200 Metre Backstroke, Selene Brown was disqualified in Race 1.

In Race 2, Sabine Keesey finished third in 2:45.88, Kale Massie was fifth in 2:47.23 and Erin Delaurier came in seventh in 2:57.09. In the overall standings, Keesey finished 21st, followed by Massie in 22nd. Delaurier came in 42nd.

In the Male 200 Metre Backstroke, Reese Jackson finished fifth in Race 2 in 2:28.04. Oliver Cull came in eighth in 2:40.93.

Overall, Jackson finished 19th and Cull finished 22nd out of 39 swimmers.

In the Female 100 Metre Breaststroke, Selene Brown finished sixth in Race 1 in 1:44.05.

In Race 2, Sabine Keesey came in fifth in 1:28.21, with Melody Qui swimming to seventh in 1:29.76.

Overall, Keesey and Qui were 19th and 20th, respectively, while Brown came in 40th.

In the Male 100 Metre Breaststroke, in Race 1, Oliver Cull grabbed second place in 1:25.11 and Corbin Jackson finished fourth in 1:26.44.

Overall, the Yukon swimmers continued posting respectable results, with Cull finishing 21st and Jackson coming in 23rd out of 39 swimmers.

In the Female 100 Metre Butterfly, Casey Delaurier finished second in Race 1 in 1:23.46.

In Race 2, Melody Qui came in sixth in 1:18.00 and Kale Massie touched the wall eighth in 1:23.48.

Overall, Qui came in 21st, Delaurier finished 23rd and Massie finished 45th.

In the male version of the 100 Metre 'Fly, Race 1, Corbin Jackson finished fourth in 1:10.99 with William Sugden coming in eighth in 1:36.06.

In a much quicker Race 3, Tuja Dreyer finished seventh in 1:03.00. That time sent Dreyer to Final B, where he touched the wall seventh in 1:02.74. Dreyer finished 15th overall.

Corbin Jackson came in 21st overall, with Sugden finishing 44th.

The evening of swimming ended with the 100 Metre Medley Relays. In the Female Relay, Team Yukon finished 10th overall in a time of 5:10.48.

Unfortunately, Team Yukon was disqualified in the Male Relay due to a false start and didn't place in the official standings.

Swimming at the Games wraps up today with several races.

In female wrestling Wednesday, following a loss to New Brunswick in the Preliminary Round, Team Yukon's Jaymi Hinchey and Leah McLean tied Nunavut 5-5 in the 11th/12th Place Game. Yukon finished 12th overall.

In male wrestling Wednesday, Team Yukon's Eban Basnett, Ryan Gayangos and Jayden Iskra lost a tight 11th/12th Place Game to Nunavut, 16-13. Yukon finished 12th in the overall team standings. Wrestling continues today with individual matches.

Volleyball action resumes on the beach today with the Yukon girls (Paige Poelman and Caelon Workman) taking on Newfoundland and Labrador at 1:30 Yukon time today in the Consolation Round.

The boys team of Manas Toews and Angus Clarke lost two tight games to Nunavut today by scores of 21-17 and 22-20 in the Consolation Round.

The Consolation games are the final games for the Yukon beach volleyball teams in the tournament.