The St. Cloud Tech Tigers gutted out a close 5-3 win against the Fergus Falls Otters.

No lead was more than two goals during the contest, and the winning goal was scored by Joey Mendel at 4:42 of the third period.

Riley Bates was all over the ice for St. Cloud Tech, as he finished with two goals in the win. Bates scored at 16:26 into the first period to make the score 1-1 and again while on the power play 8:52 into the third to make the score 4-2 St. Cloud Tech.

Fergus Falls was unable to stop the Tigers from sending pucks towards the net, and St. Cloud Tech eventually piled up 39 shots on goal.

St. Cloud Tech also got points from Tanner Skaja, who also grabbed one goal and two assists to lead the team in points. St. Cloud Tech also got a goal from Jake Samuelson as well. In addition, St. Cloud Tech received assists from Matt Brettingen, who had three and Davis Reinholz and Braden Altena, who each chipped in one.

The Otters were led by Jesse Ketonen, who had two goals. Ketonen scored the first of his two goals at 7:10 into the second period to make the score 2-2. Kyler Peterson picked up the assist. Ketonen's next tally made the score 4-3 St. Cloud Tech with 8:12 left in the third period. Adam Evenson provided the assist. Connor Tarczon also scored for Fergus Falls. Other players who recorded assists for Fergus Falls were Zach Tarczon and Ean Goos, who contributed one a piece.

The Tigers' Austin Althaus stopped 18 shots out of the 21 that he faced. St. Cloud Tech incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors. Ian Bjorgum made 34 saves for Fergus Falls on 39 shots. The Otters incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.