Motivation from several sources helped the Milwaukee Wave on Saturday night as it trounced the Edmonton Drillers, 14-4, to complete a convincing two-game sweep of the National Conference finals.

Edmonton captain Kevin Holness provided some of the fuel with a statement in the Edmonton Journal after the Wave's series-opening victory Thursday. "Milwaukee didn't beat us. The Edmonton Drillers beat us," Holness said.

His quote was underlined in yellow on the Wave bulletin board, and apparently nobody missed it.

The Wave also wanted to make amends for a flat performance in its last home playoff game, a 9-6 decision over Wichita in the first round. And then, of course, there was the tiny matter of advancing to the National Professional Soccer League finals for the second time in three seasons.

Consider that mission accomplished, but a tougher one remains. The Wave will play the winner of the American Conference finals between Cleveland and Baltimore, beginning with Game 1 of the championship series at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Bradley Center.

"You have to have the marbles to get in," said Wave goalkeeper Victor Nogueira, who was brilliant while making 18 saves against the Drillers. "We have a great team, but we haven't got the greatest team, yet. Either Baltimore or Cleveland, it's going to be tough."

With veteran midfielder Pat White scoring two first-half goals, nearly matching his regular-season total of three, the Wave was off and running to a 9-4 halftime lead before a Bradley Center crowd of 7,224.

When forward Jason Willan broke his scoreless string in the playoffs with a left-footed goal early in the third period, the Drillers were finished. Peter Hattrup added a shootout goal and Brian Loftin a restart goal later in the quarter, and the Wave was content to play keep-away in the final 15 minutes.

"We wanted to send a message that we were going to win this game," Wave coach Keith Tozer said. "I think this is the best game we played all season long at home."

Forward Michael King was back in the lineup after missing the series opener with a leg in-jury, and he appeared at full strength while taking his regular shifts. The Wave also benefited from the return of defender Lovelace Ackah, who missed Game 1 due to visa problems, and the recent addition of defender Chris Jahr.

"Everybody is playing unselfishly and is willing to sacrifice a little bit of points and a little bit of glory to run a defensive shift," said Wave defender Michael Richardson. "This is why we're all in this, to win it (the championship)."

Defender Glenn Carbonara said the Wave defense began with Nogueira and extended to the target forwards.

"Our forwards do a great job of pressuring the other team's defenders, so they can't make the passes they want to make," Carbonara said. "Not many other teams' forwards work that hard."

Richardson struck a three-point rocket inside the near post at 2 minutes 15 seconds of the second period, boosting the Wave to a 5-2 lead. That ignited a 7-0 scoring run.

"They were disappointed at not making the finals last year, and they went out and got some of the players they needed," said Edmonton coach Ross Ongaro.