麻豆社区

For the third tournament in a row, the Whitehorse Bantam Mustangs returned home this week with another first-place finish under their belts.

"I thought our final game was our best overall performance,鈥� said coach Jordan Borgford of the 4-1 win over the Dawson Creek, B.C. host team, to wrap up an undefeated record in the exhibition tournament. "It was heavily laden with penalties on both sides, so it was a lot of penalty killing for both teams.

"It was not lopsided, but it was out best overall as a group,鈥� he said. "The kids played well.鈥�

Goaltending, Borgford added, was rock solid again.

Josh Tetlichi faced an estimated 26 shots in Sunday's final, turning away all but the one.

In the previous game, goalie Devon Troke denied 46 of 48 shots as the Mustangs went on to defeat Fort St. John, B.C. 4-2 Saturday afternoon in their final game of the round robin.

"They were both phenomenal,鈥� Borgford said. "They had great games.

"It's probably the best tandem goal tending duo I have seen in quite a while. They back each other up really well, and they control the puck really well.鈥�

The Whitehorse squad of 14- and 15-year-olds opened the tournament with a 5-3 win Friday evening against Prince George, on the strength of a three-point night from first-line right winger Levi Johnson 鈥� two goals and one assist.

Johnson contributed another goal and two assists in Saturday morning's 4-2 victory over Dawson Creek, and added another two goals in the win against Fort St. John as teammate Nick Dobush tallied a goal and two assists from left wing.

The Mustangs were coming off a first-place finish at the Port Alberni, B.C. tournament in early January, following a gold medal performance at Winfield, B.C. near Kelowna in November.

In addition to the one-two goalie punch, the bantams have a well rounded skill set that will serve them well when it comes time to return to Dawson Creek March 17th for tier-three provincial championships, Borgford said.

The coach, who shares the duties with Barry Blisner, said the stars are lining up for next month.

"Defensively and in the neutral zone we are pretty good,鈥� he said. "We can cycle the puck in the offensive zone.

"We need a little work handling the puck in our own end but once we get across the blue line, we are pretty good. We can compete, we can be as physical as we need to be, or as skilled as we need to be,鈥� Borgford said.

"We have a lot of depth with the three forward lines.鈥�

In other Mustang action over the weekend, the Pee Wees returned from Castlegar with a first-place finish, after defeating the host team in a shoot-out, following five minutes of overtime that did nothing to break the 8-8 tie after regulation time.'

The Midgets won two in Lethbridge, tied one and lost one, but didn't make the cut for the tournament final.