麻豆社区

It came down to the very last shooter in this weekend's shootout to propel the Whitehorse Pee Wee Mustangs to the gold at the tier three tournament hosted by Castlegar, B.C.

The Bantam Mustangs also brought home the gold after going undefeated on the weekend in Dawson Creek, B.C. and the Mustang midgets won two, tied one and lost one but missed the cut to get into the final in Lethbridge, Alta.

Pee Wee head coach Martin Lawrie said he was pleased to see his club gel through the weekend, especially pulling it together in the final against Castlegar after the host team hammered them 8-2 in the round robin.

The weekend's performance by the Mustang pee wees bodes well for next month's provincial championships in Creston, B.C., he said.

"They just stayed in that game when we fell behind,鈥� Lawrie said Monday, shortly after arriving home. "They did a great job.

"We outplayed them in that game, definitely, and they deserved that so it was nice to get it.鈥�

But it didn't come easy.

The Mustangs had a relatively smooth sail through the round robin, opening Friday with 4-0 shutout against Nelson, B.C. and following up Saturday with a 11-1 victory against Mussoula, Minn. before Castlegar handed them their hats.

A rematch against Nelson in Sunday morning's semi-final was not so lopsided when Dylan Cozins scored his second goal of the game and what proved to be the winner with a little over five minutes to play. Joe Stokes opened the scorings for the Mustangs in the 3-2 victory over Nelson.

Castlegar advanced to the final by defeating Creston 2-0.

The final was nothing short of a seesaw affair, and a nail-biter that ended up 8-8 after a scoreless overtime.

Castlegar opened the scoring in the first but Oscar Burgess replied to tie the game 1-1. Cozins made it 2-1 and Castlegar responded with three unanswered goals to go up 4-2 before Cozins scored his second to bring the Mustangs back to within one before the close of the first period.

Castlegar opened the scoring to go up 5-3 in the second and Bryce Anderson replied to make it 5-4 after two.

Cozins scored back-to-back with his third and fourth goals of the game in the third period to put the Mustangs up 6-5. Castlegar tied it up. Burgess put the Mustangs back on top 7-6 with his second of the game before the home team tied the game and scored again to go ahead 8-7. Anderson scored his second to tie the game 8-8 with five minutes to play.

Overtime settled nothing.

As the first of five shooters lined up for the shootout, Anderson scored to give the Mustangs the early edge. Castlegar missed.

The Mustangs missed. Castlegar missed. The Mustangs missed. Castlegar missed. The Mustangs missed. Castlegar's fourth shooter tied the game but the Mustangs Cruz Goodman scored to regain the edge, with just one Castlegar shooter left.

Mustangs goalie Ethan Vanderkley made the save to take home the gold.

"You know they did a great job considering we we're playing a team that hung one on us 8-2,鈥� said coach Lawrie.

"Ethan Vanderkley really showed himself to be a number one goalie, and that also bodes well for the provincials. The third line just got better as they went, which was nice to see,鈥� said Lawrie, recalling the two goals in the final by third-liner Oscar Burgess.

He said the first line of Cozins, Anderson and Stokes have dominated all year when the team travels.

"They are pretty number-one hockey players.鈥�

Lawrie said now that they've had a look at Castlegar who they'll see in the provincials next month, along with Creston the host team and perhaps a team they played from the Pacific Coast during a pre-Christmas tour, he likes what he sees.

"I think we're coming around pretty good,鈥� said the coach. "I think we'll be competitive at the provincials, for sure.鈥�