The Midget Mustangs opened up the Richmond International Midget Hockey

Tournament with a 7-5 win over the Las Vegas Jr. Wranglers on Tuesday morning.

The Mustangs shook off some early tournament rust and bounced back with a strong third period to secure the victory.

Riley Pettitt led the team with four points, followed closely by Wyatt Gale and Tyler Wiens who added three points each. Mike Hare's strong play stood out on both sides of the ice while Mustangs goaltender Patrick Soprovich got the win in net.

The Mustangs will now face the Kelowna AA Jr. Rockets this afternoon, the same team who defeated the Mustangs in last year's finals.

The Yukon team led 2-1 with 13 minutes left in the championship match but the Rockets mounted a furious come-back and carried late game momentum to a 5-2 victory.

The Mustangs surely haven't forgotten that loss and will look to extract revenge on the Kelowna team this afternoon.

The Mustangs will have to continue their strong team play and focus on shutting down Kelowna's offensive abilities.

The team will also have to maintain their intensity throughout the match, as they were slowed by some early mental lapses in yesterday's win.

The tournament, now in it's 31st year, began on Monday and will run until Jan. 1st.

After today's match the Mustangs will face the California Wave and Campbell River Tyees to conclude preliminary play.

Aside from last year's impressive performance, the Mustangs haven't made it to the final round since they lost the championship to Kerry Park in 2005.