For a team that's struggled to score goals all season, the Waterloo Warriors' offense might be rounding into form just at the right time.

Michael Siddall (St. Mary's) scored twice and added two assists, and the Warriors exploded for three goals in a span of 1:03 in the first period en route to a dominating 8-2 win over the Toronto Varsity Blues in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale at the Columbia Icefield Arena.

Nick Halagian (St. Catharines), Zac Coulter (Owen Sound), and Mike Moffat (Waterloo) all pitched in with three points apiece in Waterloo's biggest offensive output of the season. Riley Sonnenburg (Cambridge), Joey Champigny (East Angus), and Mitchell Smith (Plainfield) also scored for the Warriors, who finish 12-12-4 on the season – marking the thirteenth straight season that Waterloo has finished at or above the .500 mark.

Connor Cleverly and Russell Turner scored goals for the Varsity Blues, who finish with a record of 5-21-2. Michael Nishi took the loss, allowing 7 goals on 25 shots before being replaced by Evan Johnson. Mike Morrison (Hamilton) earned the win for the Warriors with 8 saves, before giving way to Chris Hurry (Summerland) in the third period. Hurry, who was part of the seven-player senior day pregame celebrations, was able to get into action in front of family and friends from British Columbia in what was the last regular season game of his career.

Despite the victory, results elsewhere in the OUA kept the Warriors in eighth place in the OUA West division, setting up a first-round playoff rematch with the #1 seed Ryerson Rams. Last season, the Rams swept the Warriors in the OUA West division quarterfinal.

The Warriors will have to be at their best to compete with the high-flying Rams, who led the OUA in goals per game this season. But if Saturday afternoon's finale is any indication, the Warriors might be rounding into offensive form. Waterloo outshot the Blues 47-14 on the night, and the power play – sitting at 8.1% coming into the game – went 3-for-7 against Toronto.

The teams exchanged man-advantage markers in the first, with Toronto's goal coming during a five-minute major and game misconduct that was assessed to Matt Amadio (Sault Ste. Marie) for checking from behind. But the Warriors poured it on in the later stages of the first, as Sonnenburg, Champigny and Halagian all scored within 1:03 to put the Warriors up 4-1 after one period.

The onslaught continued in the second, when Siddall scored his second of the night just a minute in to the second. The Blues responded 50 seconds later on a power play of their own, but the Warriors once again scored in bunches to put the game out of reach for good – Halaigian and Coulter scored in a span of 1:37 to chase Nishi and make it 7-2 after 40 minutes.

Smith's goal, his first of the season at 7:51 of the third, broke up an otherwise-uneventful final stanza. Hurry made just four stops in his period of work, salting away the 8-2 victory.

Seven graduating Warriors were honoured pre-game during the senior day celebrations, including Amadio, Sonnenburg, Hurry, Stephen Silas (Georgetown), Nik Knezic (London), Cam Wind (Barrie), and Sam Caldwell (Cape Breton). The team also acknowledged the three Warriors – Moffat, head coach Brian Bourque, and equipment manager Trevor Black – who returned after helping team Canada win a bronze medal at the 2017 World University games in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The Warriors will now turn their attention to the postseason, and to the Ryerson Rams. Game 1 is in Toronto on Wednesday, February 15 at 8pm, while game two will go at the Columbia Icefield Arena on Friday, February 17 at 7pm. Game 3, if necessary, will be in Toronto on Sunday, February 19 at 7pm.