National championship chance ‘means the world’ to Mid-State Mustangs | WTAJ

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) – Even before the puck drops, the 14U Mid-State Mustangs team is already winning.

“We always say they’re the luckiest kids in Central Pennsylvania,” head coach Derek Mathews said.

The Mustangs bring Central Pennsylvania players together from areas like Indiana, Johnstown, Somerset and State College to form not just a successful team but a family.

“We’re all best friends that spend time together on and off the ice,” Hollidaysburg native Chase Link said. “(We’re) able to smile and laugh whether it’s making fun of one another or having fun together.”

A few weeks ago, the Mustangs scored one of their biggest goals of the season when they won the Mid-Am Pennsylvania Tier 2 State Hockey Championship.

“It was very exciting,” State College native Gavin Schafer said. “Everyone was pretty happy.”

“It was really exciting being able to do something we’ve dreamt of for the past couple of years ever since we became a team,” Link said.

This year, the team qualified for the national championships, which will be held in Amherst, New York from Wednesday, April 3 through Sunday, April 7. The Mustangs will be competing to become a national champ against 16 other teams.

“To bring that kind of legacy back for these kids would just mean the world to us as coaches and the entire Mustang family,” Mathews said.