Bryce Anderson picked up the puck near centre ice and turned on the afterburners.

The 14-year-old U16 Yukon Mustangs centre cruised around a defender before shelving the game-winning goal over the left shoulder of Yellowknife Wolfpack goalie Gavin Dwyer Sunday afternoon.

The goal at 9:07 of the third period made the score 2-1 and sent Anderson jumping into the glass at Takhini Arena, before he was mobbed by his teammates.

Several minutes later, the youngest team in the International Showdown’s midget division were wearing gold medals around their necks.

“I just went around the d-man and saw a little pocket upstairs,” Anderson said post-game. “I was really happy. It was a good relief.

“We have nothing left after this. We were a short a guy on forward all weekend and the d-men were working hard. We were just dead.”

The victory was the fifth straight for the U16 Mustangs, who also beat the Fort St. John Tier 3 Flyers (twice), Notre Dame Argos and Grand Prairie Knights along the way.

The host team looked fatigued at the start of the midget final, and Yellowknife eventually took a 1-0 lead on a powerplay at 8:53 of the second.

Drake Giroux slipped a shot through the five-hole of Edwin Vanderkley, after the Mustangs goalie took exception to a crease-crashing play and earned a roughing minor.

Mustangs centre Mackenzie Benn-Wipp evened things up late in the second on a scramble, setting the stage for Anderson’s heroics.

Anderson led the club in points over the tournament with four goals and seven assists, while blue-liner Brett Walchuk had a team-high five goals.

“Coming in as the youngest team, we had to work extra hard,” Anderson noted. “We were playing a lot of bigger bodies out there, so we had to use our heads, not make dumb plays.

“It’s really cool to see all the teams that want to play us and come up here,” he added. “We were really excited to play them, also. We haven’t had many out-of-town games.”

The Fort St. John Tier 2 Flyers earned bronze with a 5-4 win over Grand Prairie.

The U16 Mustangs finished ahead of the U18 Mustangs to win the seven-team full-contact tournament.

The victory was the latest for the young squad coached by Martin Lawrie. The core of the team was together as bantams when they won the provincial Tier 3 title last season.

“These kids don’t look at themselves as being an underage team,” Lawrie said of his group, who are participating in a U16 elite academy program this season.

“It shows something about this group of kids. ... These guys show up at 7:30 in the morning, on the ice, five days a week, ready to go and focused.

“There’s a number of kids in there who have their eyes on bigger things.”