The Whitehorse peewee Mustangs travelled to Victoria over the weekend to play in the third annual Juan de Fuca PeeWee Tournament.

The Mustangs, who had travelled to the same tournament last year and came in second, were able to avenge their silver and bring home the gold.

The Mustangs usually play in tier three, but their head coach Derek Johnstone thought the team would benefit from playing up in tier two.

“We moved up to tier two from our last tournament because we thought it would be more beneficial for the players to play up,” said Johnstone. “In February we will be playing in another tier two tournament in Grand Prairie, so we wanted to get used to the higher caliber. As well it will help us better compete at this years provincials.”

The Mustangs went undefeated through the tournament, wracking up the goals. Their narrowest margin of victory was in the first game when they beat the Juan de Fuca Grizzlies 7-4. The Mustangs fell behind 2-1 after the first period before scoring five unanswered goals.

The Mustangs got hat-tricks from Gavin Mckenna and Luke Cozens. Zander Underhill potted the other goal.

“We are a strong team,” said Johnstone. “We have a strong group of core players from last year, and the new players are all adding a lot.”

The Mustangs won their next two games 10-4 and 10-2.

In the semifinal game the Mustangs played the Peninsula Eagles defeating them 7-2. In the final game the Mustangs faced off against the Victoria Racquet Club, the only other undefeated team heading into the final, downing them by a score of 8-2.

“It was 1-0 at the end of the first,” said Johnstone. “But as the game went on we were able to wear them down. We were relentless in all three zones, and our offence was really impressive. We transformed our game and wore teams down with relentless offensive pressure. Our defence and our goaltender also did outstanding, the coaching staff is real proud.”

In the championship game the Mustangs got another hat-trick from Mckenna and two goals from Cozens. Conner Labar, Landon Cowper and Kayce Saligo rounded out the scoring.

Having lost in the championship game last year, Johnstone says it provided the team with a valuable lesson.

“Coming in second last year taught them how to lose,” said Johnstone. “This year we came out and had energy and focus all weekend. That is something we learned. We only had one bad period all tournament. It was a fun weekend and we are proud of how the team responded.”

This is the second gold medal of the Mustangs season. They won in Coquitlam over the Thanksgiving weekend. The team will now face a long stretch between tournaments. Johnstone hopes to keep the team sharp during that time.

“It is always tough to maintain this level of play, but we are going to try and keep them motivated.”