The season opener’s end result wasn’t what they were looking for, but the Moose Jaw Mustangs are excited about the season in front of them in the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League’s Junior Division.

“We have a really young team and to be honest, I was happy with today, I thought we looked really good considering a lot of these guys it’s their first time playing together as a team,” said head coach Frank Davalos after an 8-6 loss to the Prince Albert Predators in the first game of the 2017 campaign for both teams.

“Overall, it looked really good, consistency and tightening up on the small errors that we made today is going to be our focus going forward.”

The Mustangs’ first season in a number of years back in the junior division didn’t go as planned as they weren’t their typical dominant selves, finishing last in the PGLL with a 1-7 record

With a year of experience under their belt, this year’s team is looking to return to the top, and despite a loss in their season opener, they’re excited about what’s in front of them.

“We had a really rough season last year and the first period today looked a little shaky, but I’m getting excited, starting to see a lot more improvement compared to last year, even out of the gates,” said Captain Mason Viczko. “A loss is a loss and it sucks, but the improvement’s there and we’ve got a bright season ahead of us.”

The Mustangs have a large roster this season and are excited about the possibilities that they have, but just need to get some time on the court together.

“These are kids that we’ve played with our whole life and there’s a lot of chemistry out there, we’ve just got to get the nerves out of everyone first,” said Viczko.

“We’re right there and it’s just the small things that we drop the ball on, not having your head on a swivel, not capitalizing when you’re right there and passing off the shot, and that comes with endurance, I think, we’re a bit of a lazy team at this stage (of the season).”

Viczko led the offence for the Mustangs with three goals and five points, while Tucker Beattie picked up a goal and four points and Cole Morash had a goal and three points.

Paul Stewart scored the other marker for the Mustangs in the loss.

The game was tight throughout with Viczko scoring just 33 seconds into the game to give Moose Jaw an early lead. The two teams went into the first break tied at 2-2.

The Predators took a 5-4 lead after two and were able to extend their lead to two in the third, despite Moose Jaw tying the game at 5-5 early in the frame with Viczko’s hat trick goal.

“Our offence was moving good at times, but it’s that inconsistency at times where there’s lots of missed nets, not very many picks. These are things that happen throughout the year, you’ll get tighter in all those areas,” said Davalos.

“Disciplined was key in the third period and we sort of suffered from the classic Mustangs’ third period syndrome where we think we have it in the bag and fall a little too short, but it all comes back to consistency and never letting go of the peddle on the floor.”

The Mustangs are back in action on Thursday when they host the Saskatoon SWAT at Mosaic Place. They hit the court at 7 p.m.