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On a night when the Waterloo Warriors put the "special" into special teams, it was only fitting that the game was decided on a last-minute man advantage.

Mike Moffat (Waterloo) scored three power play markers, and Andrew Smith (Kitchener) potted a tiebreaking power play goal with 28 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Warriors to a dramatic 6-5 win over the Western Mustangs on Friday night in Waterloo.

Captain Joe Underwood (Canton) added four assists, and the Warriors went 4-for-8 on the man advantage. The Warriors also got a shorthanded tally from Brett Mackie (Whitby), and Joey Champigny (East Angus) scored the only even-strength goal for the hosts.

Mike Morrison (Hamilton) turned aside 34 shots for the victory, as the Warriors climbed back to the .500 mark with an 8-8 record heading into the exam and holiday break. The six-goal outburst was a season high, and perhaps it was a surprising outburst, considering the Warriors were without leading scorer Colin Behenna (Waterloo) due to an academic commitment.

Meanwhile, a quartet of Mustangs – Matt Marantz, Stephen Gaskin, Ray Heuther, and Connor Chartier – notched a goal and an assist apiece. Peter Delmas stopped 12 of 16 shots before giving way to Greg Dodds, who made 18 saves in a losing cause.

For a game that ended in such an exciting fashion for the Warriors, it sure didn't start out that way – the Mustangs scored two quick goals and led 2-0 before the game was four minutes old. But the Warriors exploded for five unanswered goals between the first and second periods, including a natural hat trick from Moffat – the first of his CIS career.

Trailing 5-2 late in the second though, the pendulum once again swung back towards the Mustangs – they scored twice in the middle frame to cut the deficit to 5-4. Then, with less than four minutes to play in the third, Western's Spenser Cobbold pinballed a puck behind Morrison to complete the comeback and tie it at 5-5.

But a late penalty to Western's Sean Callaghan gave Waterloo's potent power play one more chance, and it cashed. Stephen Silas (Georgetown) took the Moffat feed and zipped a pass back door for Smith, who guided it in for the eventual game-winner in the contest's final minute.

The Warriors will now head into the break on a four-game winning streak. They're back in action on January 8 in Toronto, when they visit the Ryerson Rams.