The Yukon Selects and Kodiaks split two more exhibition soccer games Thursday at F.H. Collins field in Whitehorse.

The games were part of Soccer Week in the Yukon, which ran Aug. 21-26.

In the first game, the lady Selects made it close by netting two goals in the second half after conceding three to the Kodiaks in the first half, making the final score 3-2 Kodiaks.

Kyra Piekema scored the first two goals for the Kodiaks, with Nikki Stahl chipping in with the third marker.

Tyra Jones and Kayla Blackie replied for the Selects.

Yukon’s Sammy Demchuk came into the game for the Kodiaks at the start of the second half.

“It was awesome, she said.. “Definitely better than our last game. We were better at holding our possession and getting nice clean passes. We definitely worked more as a unit today.”

Demchuk attributed the Kodiak’s first-half success to “just starting to get our teamwork together now. We’ve only been together for a week so far … pretty much a third of the team is brand new. So we’re finally starting to gel as a team.”

On a personal note, Demchuk said things are going “amazing. I love it. Had a good summer, so I’ve been pretty good going into training camp. All the girls are just awesome and I’m excited to start my second year of nursing, third year (of) college.”

A very active person of many talents, Demchuk spent the summer fighting fires with Yukon First Nations Wildfire, including the first four weeks in Alberta.

“That was really fun,” related Demchuk. “I had a great crew.

“It was a great summer. Kept me in shape for this.”

When asked how she felt about being back home, Demchuk replied, “I love it. I like being here, like, the mountains … the crisp air.”

Kodiak men’s and ladies’ head coach Sean Carey also spoke to the Star after the women’s match.

Carey, who is from Leeds, England, started with the women’s program in 2009.

“First half, we played exceptionally well. We’ve asked and demanded of what we wanted from the girls in terms of – we didn’t think Tuesday (a 1-0 victory over the Selects) we passed the ball crisply and we didn’t move off the ball right. Tonight, the first half was exceptional. I thought we just carried the whole play. I think we had about 80 per cent possession.

“Second half was little tougher because we just rolled a lot of girls in and out. There was no flow to the second half for us … overall we saw a lot of quality and a lot of good things today that’s gonna help us out for the season as we get going. Overall, I’m very happy with it.”

Carey said the main goal coming up to the Yukon was to be a part of the community and be involved.

“We had some players go to an elementary school practice today (Thursday).” The Kodiaks also took part in a kid’s camp on Saturday.

Team bonding was another goal of the trip up north, including going for a hike on Wednesday.

“Watching how the team is starting to jel together is very important for us.”

They had a big team supper Saturday night as well.

As for how the Yukon Kodiak women’s players are doing, Carey said, “They’re phenomenal. They’re just wonderful people and quality soccer players.”

Besides midfielder Demchuk, the Kodiaks have midfielder Malorie Hanson (who didn’t play Thursday because of a sore quad) and keeper Sam Burgis, who got the start in net Saturday.

The Kodiak’s season starts Sept. 9 against Red Deer Polytechnic, the defending league champs.

This was Carey’s first trip to the Yukon, which he described as “absolutely wonderful. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

Carey said Yukon soccer couple Sarah and Jake Hanson have been “phenomenal. They’ve done all the organizing and I can’t say enough good things about them.”

Carey added Sean Fleming working with the Kodiaks has been “absolutely amazing. Our kids have loved his sessions and they’ve learned a lot from him.

“We’ve got everything out of this trip that we wanted to get out of it and probably more, and it’s because of their hospitality and their work they’ve put into this.”

Select women’s coach Sarah Hanson said, “We had a bit of a slow start today but our second half was much better and I was pretty happy with how the girls played in the second half.

“We just tightened things up and played with a little more energy, a little more composure, so it was good.”

Of the first half, Hanson said, “I think we were just a little scrambled. We haven’t played a lot together at all and our lineup is changing all the time so it takes a little bit to get the chemistry happening.

“It’s also hot for us. Some of the girls were feeling that a little bit.

“These are exciting games for them so I think some come out a little hard and maybe need to take a breather.”

Hanson had a speech for the team at the break.

“I really encouraged them to take a moment and play with composure, get their heads about them. They’re quality players.

Hanson added, “I’m just super-excited about this whole opportunity. We’ve had a great time putting it together and it’s just been amazingly positive for everybody.”

The men’s game wasn’t quite as close, as the Kodiaks had no answer for the pace and precision of Selects striker Leo Whittaker, who sliced in four goals for the Selects in a somewhat chippy affair.

Whittaker was a lightning rod for the Selects until he was taken out of the game in the second half, drawing one disputed foul in the box that led to a penalty kick. Kodiak’s starting keeper Finn McCann made a stellar diving save on a kick by Tyler Milton, knocking the ball away from beside his right post to preserve a 1-1 tie. Whittaker had scored the game’s first goal for the Selects, and would score soon after to restore the one-goal lead, making it 2-1 Selects at the break.

The Selects came out of the break with a quick strike from Whittaker, who added one more in the one-sided rout of the Kodiaks, who tried to fight back but couldn’t penetrate the Selects stout defence. The final score was 6-1 Selects.

Whittaker was asked after the match if he’d ever had a game like this before.

“Yes, I have scored some goals before but it was a great team performance,” he replied. “It was great to pull a team together like this and perform and it’s always fun.”

Whittaker explained what enabled him to have such a successful evening.

“We found much more success in the final third (of the field) and creating space. There was a lot of space over the top that I found lots of success in. They had a high line.

“As a team we performed really well. Our defenders were great. We had some great tackles and that gave us a platform to build and score as many as we did.”

“It was a good game. I’m happy about it,” added Whittaker.

The Star spoke with Selects’ coach Ash Jordan after the match.

“It was a good game. The boys showed up to play tonight.

“Lethbridge had some tired legs. They’ve been having a good week of training and hiking. But it was a good competitive game and I think everybody had fun.”

Jordan said the key for the selects was his teams ability to “use their space and over-power their middle a little bit more than the last game. We switched our formation up a little bit and it worked in our favour.”

Of Whittaker’s play, Jordan said, “Leo’s got some speed to him and he can turn it on pretty quickly.”

Jordan added, “It’s great having these guys up here. Jake and I have talked and dreamed about bringing teams up and hosting something like this for years and years. I just want to say thank you to them and everybody that’s been a part of doing this. It’s a great thing moving forward and hopefully we can grow from it.”