The Whitehorse Northern Cross Mustangs midget AA rep hockey team set out to prove their sweep of Anchorage last month was no fluke, as they took on teams from across B.C. in a tournament in Abbotsford earlier this month.

The Mustangs played five games against host Abbotsford, Juan de Fuca, Semiahmoo, Vancouver and Quesnel and returned home with the championship trophy after posting a record of 4-1.

It's the first time a Whitehorse team has won the title at an Outside tournament in at least a decade.

'Obviously, we played really well,' said Mike Young, who coaches the team along with Joe Martin. 'It was a good competition, which we were really happy to see. It was well organized with good officiating.

'It was a lot of different things, at times we had to preserve a lead, at times we needed a comeback. Keeping our composure was probably key, that and hard work.'

Martin was also impressed with the team's work ethic, saying they never quit.

'You give them a goal and they work amongst themselves to complete it,' said Martin. 'They're a pretty self-sufficient team.'

While the Mustangs were 'exhausted' at the end of the tournament, running out of steam at times in their final game, Martin, who places the utmost importance on dry-land training, was very happy with their fitness level.

The Mustangs started out with a 2-1 win over Abbotsford, before falling to Juan de Fuca 7-5 in Game 2. Whitehorse lost the game on a goal with just a couple of minutes left and Juan de Fuca added an empty-netter.

'From there, it was basically do or die,' explained Young. 'We had to win our final game in order to make it to the playoffs. Our goalie (Ian Perrier) really picked it up and we ended up beating Semiahmoo 4-1. That got us into the semifinals.'

The Mustangs, who were in the B pool, crossed over to play the winner of pool A, the Vancouver T-Birds, in the semis. They won that game pretty handily, 4-1. From there, it was on to the final, and the Mustangs drew none other than Quesnel, a longtime rival.

'They beat (the midget Mustangs) 15-1 last year and were quite rude about it,' said Young. 'This time, we beat them 6-4.'

Despite the pleasure the Mustangs must have felt in hoisting the trophy after downing their rivals, Young said they actually played their best game against the T-Birds in the semis.

'They were undefeated, so we knew we had to play a sound game. We played a full 60 minutes of good, solid hockey.'

Whitehorse ended up scoring 20 goals in the five games at the tournament, 10 of which came off the stick of Chris Gleason. Gleason had four goals against Quesnel alone.

'He's a top-level athlete, that's for sure,' said Martin. 'He can just put the team on his shoulders. He's definitely a leader.'

The whole top line, which also included Drew Pettitt and Brad Holm, was impressive in Abbotsford, he said. But more than the offensive guns, Martin gave credit to a lot of the first-year players and the defense.

'They were doing the little things right. Kane Dawe, Evan Campbell and Taylor Pasloski he learned a lot this trip. Kane might look like a small guy, but I think he's got the biggest heart I've seen in minor hockey in a while. Same with Evan.'

With another series against Anchorage slated for this weekend, the recent win in Abbotsford certainly gives the Mustangs some confidence to build on. Both Young and Martin agreed there are a couple of key areas the team needs to work on in practice before taking on the Alaskans.

'We still know we need to work on our passing and the powerplay needs to start contributing more,' said Young.

'Passing has been a major part of our practices (since returning home),' added Martin. 'We want to make sure we don't turn it over and give the other team chances. That's something the guys all understand and they're working hard on it.'

The North Stars fell in four straight games to Whitehorse when they met last month, but the coaches are hoping for a much different series this time. Anchorage iced just 10 players at home, almost all of which were first- or second-year midgets.

'They were a very competitive team, those 10 players,' said Martin. 'If we take a night off, they can still beat us. But I want to see 20 guys show up here and really push us. We need the experience. So we're hoping they can call up a few players.'

The Northern Cross Mustangs will open the series against Anchorage Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The second game is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. while two more games will be played Saturday, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. All games will take place at Takhini Arena.