From the opening kickoff, Brett Springer was a man on a mission.

The ACAA Men's Soccer Player of the Year scored a hat trick in the first half, and the St. Thomas University Tommies took it from there on their way to a 4-1 victory over the UNB-Saint John Seawolves, clinching their place in Sunday's ACAA Championship game.

Second Team All-Conference member Chi Ngoloakau had the other goal for St. Thomas, while Thomas Barbara replied for the Seawolves.

Springer got the ball rolling in the 14th minute, outrunning a Seawolves defender to take a long stretch pass, then cutting back to the middle and beating Ryan Johnson to put the Tommies up one early.

The Bamberg, Ont. native added another in the 28th minute, breaking in after a give-and-go from Ngoloakau and beating Johnson to the far post to double St. Thomas's lead before completing his hat trick in the 36th minute, curling in a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box to give the Tommies a 3-0 lead going into halftime.

Barbara curled in a free kick of his own in the 71st minute to cut the Tommies lead to 3-1, but the comeback effort ended there as Ngoloakau iced it at the end of injury time.

Meanwhile, the Seawolves finished the game with nine players after receiving two red cards.

The Tommies now await the winner of the other semifinal between the Holland College Hurricanes and the Mount St. Vincent University Mystics, which will kick off at 5:30 p.m. on ACAA.tv.