The Whitehorse Midget Mustangs secured a bronze medal on a road trip over the weekend at the Abbotsford Memorial Tournament.

The Mustangs won all of their round robin games, sending them into the finals where they met top two tier team, Coquitlam. They lost 7-1, giving them third place and a bronze medal.

"We're very pleased,” said coach Jim Stephens.

The Mustangs got off to a slow start, Stephens says, and Coquitlam was able to jump ahead.

"We were down at three nothing pretty quick,” Stephens said.

Despite the loss, the Mustangs made an improvement from their performance last year at the same tournament, ending third overall with points. Last year the Mustangs secured a tie, Stephens said.

"I think the kids were quite pleased with their performance,” said Stephens.

The tournament started out successful with the Mustangs winning their first game against Seattle.

The game was kicked off by two quick goals each from Morris Morrison and Cody Mitchel.

Later on Bryden Cook added two goals to beat Seattle 4-2. Steven Harlow was in net for the Mustangs.

The next game played against Oceanside went to a tie, with goals by Lindsay Mielke and Travis Miller. Mel Goodman earned the win as goaltender.

Whitehorse faced the North Shore Winter Club next, in an exciting contest that saw goals by Trevor Hanna, Cook and Morrison push the final score to 3-2. Harlow again won in net for the Mustangs.

The team and coaches were happy with the results but would like another chance at Coquitlam.

Stephens says the team is ranked a bit higher than the Whitehorse Midget Mustangs.

"The team that we played was a top tier two team. We're classified as a tier three,” he said.

Stephens says that if the Mustangs had a chance to face similar teams more often, they would see more success.

"I think if we could play a team of that calibre we would get better,” said Stephens.

During the tournament Stephens says his team stepped up, and problems normally seen at home vanished.

"Up to this tournament we've struggled with putting the puck in the net,” he said.

The players got over whatever was keeping the puck out of the net for the tournament in Abbotsford, but Stephens says that by the final game, the team was tired.

The Mustangs have a long wait until they head out on another road trip, with their ultimate goal being playing for the Yukon at the Arctic Winter Games.

"You find out at a tournament, especially one like the Arctic Winter Games, it's a real grind,” said Stephens.

During the gap between tournaments the Mustangs will focus on conditioning the players to be able to play in a tournament setting.

"We've got lots of time to get better,” said Stephens.

There were no major injuries sustained over the weekend, and despite a bit of fatigue the Mustangs have returned home in good form to continue rec league play.

Besides conditioning, Stephens hopes to work on individual skills, while continuing to push the defence he says was great this weekend.

The gap in tournament playWhitehorse hockey teams experience can be an issue when the puck finally drops in another rink.

"It's hard for our kids to adapt to a faster style of play,” said Stephens.

He hopes the Mustangs will be in place in March to compete for a gold medal at the Arctic Winter Games.

The Mustangs will head out of town again in the new year. Plans have yet to be finalized but the team could possibly head to Lethbridge or Kamloops.