Box Score LONDON, Ont.- The Windsor Lancers men's hockey team knocked off the Western Mustangs in Game 3 of their OUA quarter-final match-up, notching a 3-1 triumph to earn a spot in the OUA West division final for a third consecutive season.

Windsor defeated the CIS No. 8 ranked Mustangs, who have now fallen in the second round of the post-season for the second-straight year, and now face off against the Lakehead Thunderwolves beginning next week with the winner earning a berth in the Queen's Cup.

The men rode an offensive barrage in the middle frame to win their second-straight elimination match, scoring three times in a 6:27 span. The Mustangs could only respond with a marker at the 6:10 mark of the third period to break a Parker Van Buskirk shutout bid

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, Mac MacDonnell picked up a loose puck just over the Mustangs blue-line off a neutral zone draw, and beat Western goaltender Josh Unice with a sharp angle shot that slipped past the fifth-year's right skate at the 3:18 mark of the second.

The Allen Park, Mich. native was hungry for another goal on his next shift minutes later, springing on a partial break-away after blocking a Mustangs point shot. After McDonnell was unable to get a good shot away with pressure coming from the Western defenders, he found a trailing Spencer Pommells who was stoned by Unice on a hard point-blank attempt.

However, the Lancers offence kept rolling as moments after Mike Christoue came in as the late trailer on a Windsor rush. The freshman forward took a great drop pass from Evan Stibbard and snapped a high shot over Unice's blocker arm to the top right corner, doubling Windsor's lead.

The Mustangs seemed shell-shocked, as an errant pass by a Western defenceman from behind his own net left Matt Beaudoin and Derek Lanoue alone in front. Beaudoin wristed his third goal of the playoffs, and the Lancers strengthened their grip on the contest, going up by three at the 9:45 mark of the second, prompting a Mustangs timeout.

The home team settled down for the rest of the middle stanza, but faced a 3-0 deficit heading into the third. Van Buskirk made a couple of key saves early in the final period to maintain Windsor's healthy lead. However the Mustangs finally solved the Windsor native just over six minutes into the frame, as Alex Micallef one-timed a sideboard pass from the upper slot to the low glove corner to get Western on the board.

However, that was the only puck that got past Van Buskirk, who stopped 36 of 37 shots in the contest in guiding Windsor to another post-season series victory. Unice made 25 saves in a losing cause for the Mustangs.

The Lancers were 0-for-2 on the power-play while Western was 0-for-3.

Windsor will do battle with the Thunderwolves next week in the OUA West finals. Stay tuned to GoLancers.ca for schedule updates.