The Granite City Lumberjacks jumped out to a four-point advantage by the end of the first period and beat the Toledo Cherokee, 5-2.

The win gave Granite City a 1-0 lead in the best of one series.

The Lumberjacks got the win thanks to a great game by Peter Lindblad, who had one goal and two assists. Lindblad scored 4:26 into the first period to make the score 3-0 Granite City. Nick Zierden picked up the assist.

Toledo's power play was ineffective against Granite City's penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.

The Lumberjacks made Cherokee's goalies to work between the pipes, totaling 42 shots and forcing 37 saves. Austyn Roudebush made 32 stops and Lukas Gavalier made five. Granite City's penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on six Toledo power plays. The Lumberjacks got an offensive boost from their blueliners, who contributed two goals during the game.

Granite City additionally got points from Riley Bengtson, who also racked up one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. Granite City also got a goal from Nick LaRue as well. More assists for Granite City came via Aaron Azevedo, who had one and Trevor Ness, who had two.

The Cherokee were led by Ryan Kelly, who finished with one goal and one assist. Kelly scored 9:18 into the second period to make the score 4-2 Granite City. Mike Baker provided the assist. Ben Henry also scored for Toledo. Other players who recorded assists for Toledo were Jake Manders, who had one.

Matt Grove recorded 27 saves for Granite City. The Lumberjacks incurred 24 minutes in penalty time with seven minors. Toledo incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors.