LONDON, Ont. - Mustangs goaltender Anthony Grieco was solid in net as the Mustangs shutout the Waterloo Warriors 6-0 on Feb. 27 to advance to the OUA West Finals.

Josh McQuade, Jason Furlong, Chris Corbeil, Keaton Turkiewicz, Yashar Farmanara and Scott Aarssen scored for the Mustangs. Kevin Baker added three assists and captain Kyle Lamb added two.

The first period yielded back-and-forth competitive play as both teams were called for three infractions. Despite a seesaw battle with Western leading the shot total 12-11, the first twenty minutes was held scoreless.

The Mustangs grabbed hold of the game during the second frame and swung the momentum in their favour. McQuade notched Western’s first goal, his third in the playoffs, after blasting a shot past Waterloo’s goaltender Keaton Hartigan on the man-advantage as the Mustangs cycled the puck through the offensive zone.

Less than one minute later, Furlong walked over the blue-line and wired a shot top corner past Hartigan for an unexpected 2-0 lead.

With their season at stake, Western continued to forecheck hard as Corbeil and Furlong erupted on a 2-on-1 offensive attack. The Warriors defender favoured Furlong, taking away the pass and leaving an open lane for Corbeil who walked in and ripped a shot off the far post and in. The Mustangs held a three goal leading heading into the final period.

Both teams were visibly tired to start the third period after last night’s 2-1 Waterloo victory. With something to prove after the loss, the Mustangs scored three goals in under a minute and a half to secure a 6-0 lead.

Western’s fourth goal came as Turkiewicz, McQuade and Baker cycled the puck down low. Turkiewicz cradled a pass from Baker and riffled it home, earning his second goal of the playoffs.

The Warriors were called for a slashing penalty after Western’s goal. Farmanara responded by netting a powerplay goal only 11 seconds later for a 5-0 lead. Just one minute later, Waterloo was called for a hooking penalty and Aarssen released a shot from the point that beat Hartigan for Western’s final goal on the man-advantage. Justin Leclerc relieved Hartigan who made 32 saves in 53 minutes.

Grieco made 141 saves in 5 playoff games, with 26 saves in tonight’s victory as Western outshot Waterloo 43-26. Despite struggling on the powerplay through the playoffs, the Mustangs scored on three of six powerplay opportunities tonight.

Western faces off against the Guelph Gryphons on Wed. Mar. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Guelph beat Laurier two games to one in the OUA West Semifinals.