The Midget Mustangs are back in town after placing third at the 31st Richmond International Hockey Tournament in B.C.

The local team faced skilled competition from across the country and the U.S. on route to a 3-2-1 record in a tournament that featured 20 teams.

The Mustangs didn't drop a game in the preliminary round and shut-out the Vancouver Spirit 5-0 in the quarter-final in what head coach Jay Glass called a terrific all around effort.

But in the semi-final, the team encountered their strongest opposition to date in the Littleton Hawks from Colorado.

The Mustangs ended up losing the game 6-2, but the score was not reflective of the play, said Glass.

The Hawks went on to win the tournament.

After a strong showing in the earlier match-ups, Glass said the team just lost focus in their final game.

"We never got into our ‘A' game,” he said. "We let a lot of little distractions bother us and had some disciplinary breakdowns, whether it was staying on the ice too long or not making good decisions.”

The officiating heavily influenced the tempo of the game with over 46 minor penalty

minutes called.

"It seemed like they were raising and lowering the infraction bar at random so it was a real tough game for the kids to play in,” said Glass.

"Most of the game we were either killing penalties or on the power play so it was hard to get into a flow and get our bench going and get our momentum going.”

It was the only loss for the Mustangs in the tournament and their first loss to a midget team this season.

Team captain, seventeen-year-old Mike Hare, said the Littleton team was the strongest opposition they have faced all year.

"We got a bit sidetracked but they were a good team,” he said. "It wasn't a situation of us getting beaten by a team we were a lot better than.”

Glass said the goal for the tournament was to make it to the quarter-final and even though the team achieved that, it's tough to go home on a losing note.

"We exceeded what we wanted to but didn't quite make it where we could have been,” he said. "But to come in third place out of 20 teams is still pretty darn good.”

The Mustangs faced strong competition from each team as the squads stacked up evenly and the talent was widely dispersed.

Glass said to reach the next level the Mustangs have to improve their discipline and focus and he believes they have the dedication to do that.

"We're a good team, when you look at our performance against midget teams, we've only lost once in 11 games,” he said.

Hare, who has been playing competitive hockey since he was four -years-old, said the Mustangs squad is the most skilled team he has ever been a part of.

"Every line is skilled and each line contributes really well,” he said. "There isn't any weak links on the team.”

Hare said it was one of the biggest tournament's he's played in and viewed it as a good measuring stick to see how the team sized up against outside competition.

"Each time we enter a tournament we want to win it,” he said.

"And if we can't do that, take from the experience and learn from it and bring it onto the next tournament.”

Hare has lofty goals for the team and he believes the squad is skilled and dedicated enough to accomplish them.

"We want to get gold at provincials,” he said. "It hasn't been done by a Yukon team in a long time and it would be a great goal to accomplish.”

The Mustangs will face their next major test in February when they travel to Lethbridge to compete in the Alberta Double A Midget Tournament.