The Knoxville Ice Bears tried to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole, but the Pensacola Ice Flyers held on for a 3-2 victory.

Pensacola made the score 3-1 on a goal by Dan Buccella at 16:31 in the third period, and Knoxville got as close as 3-2 when Jon Higgins scored 17:54 into the third period.

After the loss made the series score 1-0 in the best of three series, the Ice Bears face elimination next time out.

The Ice Flyers were sparked by Buccella, who finished with one goal.

Pensacola also got a goal from Joe Caveney as well. In addition, Pensacola received assists from Jordan Chong, Jeremy Gates, and Ryan Salvis, who contributed one a piece.

Peter Neal also scored for Knoxville. More assists for Knoxville came via Shaun Arvai, Nate Peterson, Brendan Taylor, and Dan Bremner, who each chipped in one.

Pensacola's Ross MacKinnon stopped 19 shots out of the 21 that he faced. The Ice Flyers incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors. Bryan Hince rejected 27 shots on goal for Knoxville. The Ice Bears incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors.