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Mustangs grab bantam gold in dramatic final

The front of the Mustangs net, that's where the buck stops.
hockeybantam

The front of the Mustangs net, that’s where the buck stops.

The Peewee Mustangs defeat the Great Canadian Dollar Store 7-5 bantam division final of the Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association’s Closing Tournament at the Canada Games Centre on Sunday.

It was the most back-and-forth final in the season-closing tournament. The Mustangs took a two-goal lead, before the Dollar Store took a two-goal lead, before the Mustangs took another two-goal lead to end it.

Going into the third down 5-3, “the boys stuck to the game plan, started blocking shots, playing with a lot more grit and determination, and started getting some bounces our way,” said Mustangs head coach Kirk Gale.

The Dollar Store came back from 2-0 with five second-period goals - including a natural hat trick from Mack Benn-Wipp - to end the period

up by two. Tyler Eaglestone had a goal and two assists

for Dollar Store.

The Whitehorse rep team lost to the Dollar Store 2-1 in the round-robin portion of the tournament.

“We’ve been playing these guys all year and they’ve always been pretty close games, so we knew what to expect,” said Gale. “We’re playing on the bigger ice (the ATCO Olympic size rink), that’s a little bit of adjustment for our guys…

“In the second we hit a bit of a lull. We were making mistakes, forgetting to pick up our checks, and they were getting goals.”

The Mustangs took the lead in the third with three goals in a minute and 19 seconds. Defenceman Brett Walchuk started the onslaught before goals from Oscar Sawicki and Saul Gale. Walchuk got the insurance goal late in the game and also had two assists.

“He was keeping us in the game with his scoring and assists,” said Mustangs captain Isaac Williamson of Walchuk.

Also scoring for the Mustangs was Walliamson with two goals and an assist, Wyatt Peterson with a goal and assist. Eric Potvin and Kyron Crosby also logged assists.

Mustangs goalie Dawson Smith stopped 49 of 54 shots in the final.

“He really held us in there,” said Williamson. “He did an outstanding job. It was his game of the year.”

Dynamic Systems defeated the Female Mustangs 6-5 for

the bronze.

Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com