In the first foray outside the Yukon this season, the Schmidt Mining Corp. Mustangs came up short in Surrey, B.C.

The under-19 female club won one game and dropped three.

But team manager Marlaine Anderson-Lindsay said while two of the games were lopsided, two provided the Mustangs with a competitive battle.

“This was the first Outside tournament the team played this year and they matched up against teams that were good matches, the North Shore folks and the team from Williams Lake,” she said.

Anderson-Lindsay said they lost to North Shore 3-1 but defeated Williams Lake 2-0.

They lost 8-0 to Fort Saskatchewan Midget A and 10-2 to Surrey.

The Mustangs also lost Jaden Ezzard of Dawson City after she broke her leg in a fall Friday night.

“That made a tough game even tougher psychologically but our girls pulled through,” she said. “Our girls really held their own in different circumstances.

And Ezzard was there the next day cheering her club on, cast and all.

Anderson-Lindsay said several of the Mustangs will be members of Team Yukon at next month’s Arctic Winter Games in the Northwest Territories.

The age range of the 15 players who went to Surrey was 12 to 17, she explained.

The team manager said such a range in age demonstrates the need to continue the development opportunities for female hockey players in the territory to encourage more participation.

The purpose of the Mustangs is to provide an avenue to higher competition for girls and young women, she said.

The club skates several times a week between practices, playing in the bantam division of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey League and having exhibition games against teams in the city’s women’s league.

“As far as the development, as far as the inclusion, it gives the girls an opportunity to play at a higher level within the Yukon, and for the Yukon.”