The Dairy Queen U13 Whitehorse Mustangs A team recently captured gold at the Tier 2 Abbotsford Cup tournament, which took place Dec. 3-5 in Abbotsford, B.C.

The Mustangs are a rep team classified as a Tier 3 team.

The team was made up mostly of boys with one female player, Maya Bulmer.

They previously played in a Tier One tourney, the Gil Martin Memorial Tournament, one of the more well-attended tournaments in B.C., on the Remembrance Day weekend in Langley.

Mustangs’ coach Shawn Fummerton said in that tournament the team “definitely played against some better competition and we hadn’t really had time to work on our systems and our game, so we lost all four games in the tournament, but they were close, good-fought games and the kids really developed the confidence that they can play against the best teams in B.C. – the best kids their age in B.C. So it was a good learning experience – the first one for them.”

Friday morning, they played the home team Abbotsford Hawks.

“We got off to a slow start, had a couple own-goals, and our team just came out flat after a long day of travel,” recalled Fummerton. “It was an 8 a.m. game, so it was expected that the kids would be a little bit slow and sleepy in the morning, not playing our best game. We knew we were here to compete, and we knew that we had a good chance, just seeing the other teams that morning and knowing what we were capable of.”

The final score in the game was 4-2 for Abbotsford.

The next game was Friday afternoon against the Aldergrove Bruins.

“Our team came out flying,” related Fummerton. “We got out to a 5-0 lead in the first period ... we caught them a little off-guard. Our team was really motivated and came out strong, and just played 0-0 hockey the rest of the way for a 5-1 win.”

The Mustangs next game was against the Burnaby Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

“It was a good hard-fought game,” said Fummerton. “They had a really good goalie who presented some big challenges to us. Big as in he was probably about 6’2”. But it was a really good back and forth game and we just came out on the losing side of that, 3-1.”

The Mustangs did just enough to get into the semifinals on goals allowed differential. Sunday morning, they had a rematch against the Abbotsford Hawks.

“Our team was determined and ready. They knew the task at hand. They knew that they didn’t come out and show that team their strongest game and right from the puck drop we just dominated the game, really pushed the pace and ended up winning 7-0,” recalled Fummerton.

“We knew that we had played a good game. All of our systems were really starting to come together, but we knew we still had some work to do.”

The final was another rematch, this time against the Burnaby Bulldogs.

“We got off to a slow start,” related Fummerton. “Burnaby ended up taking a 3-0 lead after the first period. And then in the second period, the momentum just slowly started to switch. We got one goal, but we were really dictating the pace. We knew we were outworking them. We just had a really strong-willed, hardworking group of hockey players.

“We got another goal halfway through the third period to make it 3-2. And then in the last minute or so, we got a power play, we pulled our goalie, and then Mannix Bingham tied the game up from a rebound off a point shot and sent us to sudden-death four-on-four overtime.

“And then in four-on-four overtime, we capitalized on a turnover of theirs, and Channon Fummerton scored the championship-winning goal.”

Fummerton scored about two minutes into overtime.

“We knew, going into overtime – we looked at our kids,” said Fummerton.

“They were excited. They were ready to go out there and compete more and we just said ‘this is going to be exciting to watch you guys go out there and win this’ because nothing was going to stop the determination they had that day. We really believed in ourselves.”

“I remember looking into the scrum in-between the overtime and the third period and all the smiles on their face(s), all excited, so you knew that they had it in ‘em. You knew that they were gonna do everything they could to score that goal.”

According to Fummerton, seeing that goal go into the net was “just amazing. They had worked so hard, they had believed in themselves. We don’t get many games, so that first tournament was really to show them that they belonged in those higher tiers, not playing in the Tier 3s, showed them that they’re capable of playing with the top kids in B.C. and Alberta.

“And it was just – I don’t want to say vindication, but it was – everything that we’ve been doing, all our practices, our strategies, it was just kind of ‘we are on the right way, we’re going down the right path’, kids all buy into the systems, they’re all team-first. It’s a great great group of kids and parents that we have with that team. It’s ... really been a privilege to be part of it.”

Treytin Frizzell had a great weekend, scoring eight goals and adding three assists.

Goalie Harrison Dolding only let in one goal in two and a half games, and according to Fummerton, shored up the defence and gave the team chance after chance to come back in the championship game. Dolding also notched the shutout in the semifinals.

Next up for the Mustangs is the Coca-Cola Classic in Vernon, B.C. Feb. 10-13, which is by invitation only, and features the top teams from B.C., Alberta, and, in some non-COVID-19 years, California.

“It’s probably the most prestigious Tier 1 tournament in Western Canada,” stated Fummerton.