San Diego Gulls tried to dig itself out of a three-goal hole, but xFresno Monsters held on for a 3-1 victory.

xFresno Monsters made the score 3-0 on a goal by Thomas Peach at 9:10 in the first period, and San Diego Gulls got as close as 3-1 when Ilya Sakhibgareev scored 2:23 into the third period.

Mike Fabie had two goals to lead xFresno Monsters to victory. Fabie scored at 1:34 into the first period to make the score 1-0 xFresno Monsters and again while 6:39 into the first to make the score 2-0 xFresno Monsters.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 13:15 into the second period. Twelve fighting penalties were dished out along with six game misconducts.

xFresno Monsters was often in penalty trouble, totaling five minors and three majors for 65 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 28.0 minutes per game xFresno Monsters had been spending in the box. xFresno Monsters forced San Diego Gulls' netminders to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, ripping 37 shots and forcing 34 saves. Erik Eidissen made four stops and Brody Cavataio made 30. xFresno Monsters put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow San Diego Gulls to score on any of its three power plays.

More assists for xFresno Monsters came via Dan Fitzgerald, Cory Sikich, Mark Shroyer, Nico Wilton, and Conner Osborne, who contributed one a piece.

San Diego Gulls racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with five minors and four majors for 60 minutes in penalty time. San Diego Gulls surpassed its season average of 17.0 penalty minutes per game. San Diego Gulls excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in four chances. San Diego Gulls' offense operated below it season average. San Diego Gulls puts an average of 3.3 pucks into the net per game.

Other players who recorded assists for San Diego Gulls were Nate Kallen and Justin Cintas, who each chipped in one.

xFresno Monsters' Jerry Kaukinen stopped 18 shots out of the 19 that he faced. Team's Gunnar Dircks, Kyle Jelenski, and Osborne were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. For San Diego Gulls, Keegan Evangelista, Austin Millard, and Brian Prieboy were ejected from the contest.