Call it “Kishchuk’s Revenge.” Ben Kishchuk scored two of Team Yukon’s goals en route to a dominant 3-0 win over Manitoba on Friday at the 2022 Niagara Canada Summer Games.

The game for the Yukon’s soccer boys was part of the Consolation Round and determined the seventh-place finisher at the Games.

Yukon came out like gangbusters, dominating play and spending most of the half in the Manitoba end.

“It was great,” said Team Yukon Technical Director Sean Fleming. “The level they played at was incredible.”

Yukon broke through with a goal around the 10-minute mark. Ben Kishchuk got his revenge after the B.C. game, in which he missed a great second-half opportunity to pull the Yukon side ahead.

Kishchuk was at it again as Yukon followed it up with another goal around the 23-minute mark, as Kishchuk, the Manitoba keeper and the ball all ended up in a heap in the net. About four minutes later, Rio Crystal took a beautiful through ball from Sebastian Insley and finished the play off with a strike past the Manitoba keeper.

Fleming was understandably enthused with the level of his squad’s play.

“We had a little bit of a good start ... we had a couple early yellow cards and that really gave us concern a bit, cause we had tired legs, all it takes then is a late tackle and – second yellow ... we made a couple adjustments and then I thought things worked out really well.

“The quality of the football we played I thought was really good. And I think what we’ve definitely done is surprised teams here by how well we played with the ball, how we are in possession. We switched the point of attack ... I think we caught people a bit by surprise.”

Fleming described his take on the goals.

“Ben got both I guess. So one – it was a little bit of a scrabbly one but it was a good quality play at the end. He just battled his way though and put it in and finished it really well.

“And the second goal, which was the corner – we’ve asked them over and over again to attack and he did.”

“The third goal, where Seba (Sebastian Insley) sent in Rio, was just a brilliant goal.

“And then on the other side of it, really, Callum had to make one save. Defensively, Jason Sealy and Felix Masson, Zach (Saplywy), they just – so solid at the back. And Kaelen Lewis in the middle ... overall just a great performance, a lot of character shown today (Friday). A lot of kids who were tired, a lot of kids who had some soreness, some bruises here or there but they all got on with it. I’m really proud.

“It’s the people like Jake Hanson and Vic Lavendaros and Ash Jordan and Derek Lewis and Spencer Rich – all these guys who worked with these players throughout the years – I really hope they can celebrate these performances by these players. I think everybody who are involved with these boys should be really proud because Yukon has really left a mark in football in Canada ... it’s great day for soccer in the Yukon.”

Fleming had high praise for Jake Hanson.

“He’s a co-coach with me on this team and he’s just been brilliant throughout and he’s worked so hard with these kids but he really knows them well and he can read them well and so he’s a great, great help for me.”

Fleming said Manitoba’s left fullback, Ishamani Lewis, was causing problems for the Yukon defenders and in part, along with the two early yellow cards, necessitated some changes.

“He’s a good player and he was really shifty, plays the ball well, can score as well,” said Fleming.

“We put in Kade Bringsly up top and then Kaelen Lewis went back to midfield and Ashton Bryant went back to right back and Etty (Etnik Tarakas) went off, so we did that to solidify things, go back to maybe how we were a little bit before ... the boys all reacted really well.”

The score was 3-0 at the half. Fleming reminded his troops to stay focused.

“I said ‘Look, you gotta take it as 0-0’ ... cause I knew their coaches would really fire them up, cause they weren’t happy – I could tell. So we knew there would be a big push the first 10 or 15 minutes, so I said ‘Let’s be really careful that we are ready to go here.’

“I thought we handled it really well. I didn’t think there was really many moments of the game where I felt we were really under pressure.”

Despite Manitoba’s efforts to break the goose egg in the second half, they were unable to score.

Team Yukon went on to win 3-0 and captured seventh place, their best finish ever at the Canada Games.

Fleming said he hopes the growth of soccer in the Yukon doesn’t end here.

“I really hope that it’s kind of a seed for people, anybody who’s into soccer in the Yukon – look at what these boys have done. They can come and compete with the best in the country and really put a lot of hard work into things and I hope males and females can really grow the game and ... that this isn’t a one-off thing. That there’s a lot here.

“Setting history by beating two provinces, by finishing the highest ever ... so there’s a lot of positives, but then you wanna keep building that momentum – so look at coaching development programs, player development programs and make sure we’re all doing well now for the game, for all levels ... so I just hope that message can kind of go forward in that way.”

Fleming added “We played – I would say – four of the top six provinces in the country ... we played all the real tough opponents and again, all credit to them for how the players have dealt with it.”

In Basketball action Friday, in the 11th/12th Place Game, the Team Yukon girls took a tough loss to Nunavut, 65-45.

They finished 12th in the final standings.

The news was much better for the boys, who were down at halftime but triumphed over Nunavut 87-78 in the 11th/12th place game and finished 11th in the final standings.

In cycling Friday, in the Female Mountain Bike Sprint, Mara Roldan finished second in Heat 2 in 3:51.290. She qualified for the semifinal, but a chain link failed and she was unable to finish. In Heat 6, Mathilde Roldan finished third in 4:19.680. Mara finished 12th overall, while Mathilde came in 20th.

In the Male Mountain Bike Sprint, Jonah McConnell finished fifth in Heat 6 and 29th overall.

Open Water events were the only swimming events held Friday. In the Male 3000 Metre Open Water, Thomas Gishler finished 13th overall in 36.29, capping off a strong Games for the Yukon swimmer.

Reese Jackson came in 18th overall in 40.25.

In the female 3000 Metre Open Water, Avery Kinsella finished 20th overall in 46.51.

On the beach Friday, Yukon lost the 11th/12th Place Game to Nunavut 2 games to none and finished 11th overall.

In male beach volleyball Friday, in the 11th/12th Place Game, Yukon lost to Newfoundland and Labrador 2 games to none, and finished 12th overall.

Athletics begins today and features numerous events and Yukon athletes.

Canoe Kayak, featuring Yukon’s Kaleb Parry and Julianne Girouard, paddles off today as well.