It didn't take long for the players on the PeeWee Mustangs to find their feet at the Silvertips hockey tournament in Salmon Arm, B.C. this past weekend.

After dropping its first contest, the Mustangs responded by winning two out of their final three games to finish in seventh place at the competition.

"It showed really good team depth, which is what we were hoping we would have," said PeeWee Mustangs head coach Kerry Pettitt. "All the boys played very well."

The tier two tournament began on Friday and featured 12 teams, which were divided up into three divisions. The Mustangs were placed in division two along with teams from Chilliwack, Quesnel and Burnaby.

With eight returning players on the PeeWee Mustangs roster this season, the team has benefitted from some additional experience in both Salmon Arm and in the bantam house league.

Before this past weekend's tournament, the PeeWee Mustangs were undefeated in the bantam league with five wins and one tie.

The PeeWee Mustangs opened up the tournament with a rough game with Quesnel, which was one of the moe physical teams in Salmon Arm.

The Mustangs kept it close for the first two periods. The score after the first period was 1-0 and 3-1 by the end of the second frame, said Pettitt.

Despite scoring again in the third period, the Mustangs ended up losing the game 6-2.

The teams second game was against a highly skilled team from Burnaby, which had a few snipers and moved the puck well in the offensive end, the head coach said.

Similar to the first game, the Mustangs kept it close and were able to tie the game up at 3-3 by the end of the second. Both teams lit it up in the third period, but unfortunately for the Mustangs ended with their second straight loss. The final score was 9-5 for Burnaby.

Pettitt said game three was a big turning point for the Mustangs.

"Everybody came together extremely well, again more confidence," he said. "It was period two that things opened up for us and we took control of the game. It was 2-1 for Chilliwack at the end of one and at the end of period two it was 5-2 for us."

The PeeWee Mustangs added two more goals in the third period, winning the game 7-3.

Pettitt said he thought that contest against Chilliwack was the team's best game at the tournament.

"I think it was from top to bottom so to speak," he said. "Everybody really improved their play and showed really good confidence and we played together very well as a team."

The Mustangs concluded the Salmon Arm tournament with a game against a team from Trail, B.C. After both teams were held scoreless by the end of the first period, the Mustangs got on the board thanks to a goal by Wyatt Gale.

Riley Pettitt notched another goal for the Mustangs before the end of the second frame, giving the team a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.

The Mustangs scored once again in the first half of the final frame and were able to hold off a late push by Trail to win the contest 3-2.

The coach said the team accomplished all of its goals in Salmon Arm.

"We are holding them in high regard for sure," Pettitt said about the players on the team.