Had it not been for the Diamond Jenness Secondary School Panthers, it would have been a Yellowknife sweep.

The Elks Outdoor Soccer Tournament wrapped up in Hay River on Sept. 23, bringing to an end the first territorial scholastic sports championship of the season. Teams from Yellowknife won all but two of the banners up for grabs on the Tri-Service, Princess Alexandra and Diamond Jenness soccer fields.

Those other two stayed in Hay River as the Panthers captured the boys and girls A high school titles. Both of those victories came at the expense of St. Pat's High School of Yellowknife as the boys won, 2-0, while the girls ended up winners, 4-0.

The Panthers boys ran the table in their division, winning all four of their games on the road to victory.

Coach Kelvin Yee said he noticed something funny before the championship game started as it appeared St. Pat's tried to gain an early advantage.

SA国际影视传媒淚n all of our games, we had sat on the side of the field where the bleachers were,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淪t. Pat's beat us to that side before the game began and we had to go over to the other side. I don't know if it was superstition of anything like that but I thought it was funny.SA国际影视传媒�

Once the action on the field began, both teams had to fight a strong south wind which affected the passing ability in the air.

Yee said he told his boys to try and keep it on the ground as much as possible.

SA国际影视传媒淚've played outdoor soccer many times and I knew the wind would be a problem,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭he goalkeepers were having a hard time kicking the ball out so we tried to keep it on the ground as much as we could.SA国际影视传媒�

There was an instance in one semifinal where a goalkeeper kicked it in the air and the wind almost put it into his own net, he added.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat's when you know the wind's bad,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

Diamond Jenness did all of their scoring in the first half and managed to hold down the fort in the second half although St. Pat's came knocking several times.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey started to really push us,SA国际影视传媒� said Yee. SA国际影视传媒淚 just told the boys to stay on them and every chance the defence got, get the ball down field and let our forwards do the work. We didn't want to sit back but we wanted to keep (St. Pat's) on the run.SA国际影视传媒�

Yee's outfit was pretty close to the one he had last year with a couple of changes due to graduating players. He also had the help of four players from Fort Resolution, who joined the team for the tournament.

SA国际影视传媒淭hose four boys played really well and were a big help,SA国际影视传媒� said Yee.