Yukon natives Malorie Hanson and Sammy Demchuk won bronze with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks at the recent ACAC Women's Soccer Championships.

The Championships took place in Raymond, Alta. Oct. 28-30.

The lady Kodiaks edged the Keyano Huskies 1-0 on Friday, then lost a close semi-final to the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens 2-1 Saturday, but bounced back with a decisive 2-0 victory over the Nait Ooks Sunday in the bronze medal match.

The Kodiaks have now won bronze at the ACAC Championships three straight seasons.

The Star reached Kodiaks’ head coach Sean Carey Monday.

"The goal going in this year was to try and obviously improve on a bronze medal but once we lost the game on Saturday to Red Deer, who eventually won the whole thing, we had to refocus again and we were able to bring home that medal on Sunday … it's not a wasted weekend, obviously. Anytime you get to win a medal at a conference championships it's huge."

The Star reached Hanson and Demchuk in Lethbridge Thursday. Hanson, 22, explained what it meant to play in the ACAC Championship.

"Definitely an exciting weekend getting to host. That was a pretty cool experience and obviously qualifying for the bronze medal game wasn't exactly the end goal we had but overall it was a really great experience and really, really happy with it."

Demchuk, 19, added "It was great to get into the bronze medal and just winning (the) bronze medal last year in futsal championships and then winning it again this year. It's great to see how we can keep this momentum going, through the seasons."

Hanson played almost the entire tournament.

"Coming back from the injury she sustained last year, it's just great to see her on the field again and do what she does best," related Carey. "She's a phenomenal player and I was so happy to have her back … she's a game-changer for sure."

Hanson had a knee injury which required surgery and only returned in the second week of October.

"She was called upon a lot this weekend but there was a lot of injuries to other players on our team. If she's fit, she plays pretty much all the time. She's one of my best players, if not my best player and … she's a difference maker,” said coach Carey.

Hanson was asked how it felt to be playing in that tournament coming off a serious knee injury.

"It was really exciting," she replied. "It was definitely a little nerve-racking because I've only been cleared for games for a month now. So it was a pretty big step, it felt like but overall, I was really excited to be able to compete with my teammates and just get to be involved at all. So it's really nice to be out on the field again."

Hanson said her injury was a factor in her performance, to a degree.

"It definitely was. Just like not having played in almost a year now, at the level, it definitely had an impact on like, my fitness level and just how my body felt but overall, I felt like I was able to manage it pretty well over the weekend and you know, like, contribute in whatever capacity I could."

Hanson said she was able to fully trust her surgically repaired knee.

"Yes. Pretty much. Still a little hesitancy now and then but for the most part I was pretty confident in it.

Carey said the weekend went well for Hanson.

"She was very effective in the middle, midfield, where she plays. Her distribution is just so good. She almost glides around the field. Her first touches are always out of trouble and she just links players and – she didn't get on the scoresheet but she definitely created some opportunities for the other girls … she had a really solid week.

"Hopefully now her injury troubles are behind her and we can really get her focused in here with futsal coming up over the winter and then hopefully we get her back next fall for another run at a championship."

Demchuk was cheering Hanson on the whole time.

"100 per cent," said Demchuk.

Hanson chimed in "She's a huge factor in my warm up too. She helps me with all of my prep and stuff."

Unfortunately for Demchuk, she wasn't able to get into any games on the weekend.

"The way that the games were going, we didn't make a lot of subs," explained Carey. "I'm a believer that once you're in those kind of level of games that if the teams's playing well and they're always close games – you know it was a 1-0 win on Friday, 2-1 defeat Saturday, and then a 2-0 win on Sunday – so in close games, when girls are already into the game, I don't like making changes … she's definitely played a big part for us coming down the stretch here and got herself a goal, too, in one of the games we played, which is her first goal for us as well.

"We're looking for big things from Sammy when it comes to futsal. We know that that's her spot and she'll be a very effective player for that."

Futsal for the Kodiaks starts on Nov. 14.

Demchuk was the backup goalkeeper after the starting keeper suffered an injury in the ACAC Championships.

"That's the good thing about Sammy," said Carey. "She can play lots of different positions for ya."

The two young Yukoners feel like they're representing the Yukon.

"To a degree," said Hanson. "We're the only two Yukon girls on the team and I think probably in the whole division, if not the whole league, so, yeah."

Needless to say, it felt good for the girls to win the bronze.

"Amazing, honestly. I loved it," said Hanson.

Demchuk added "I'm very proud of the team and we had to overcome some adversity, losing a few starters on Saturday. So I think we were just both really proud of how the girls performed. And it was nice to like, play a different team that we don't usually play in (the) season and be able to come up with the win. So I think that was definitely awesome."

Hanson added "It was a super cool experience getting to host a championship here and both getting to be involved and just yeah, very proud of our team and the performance that we were able to give this weekend."