The Bloomington Thunder could not stop the Knoxville Ice Bears' Francis Drolet, who tallied a hat trick in an 8-1 win.

The game was close after the first frame, but Knoxville banged in four goals during the second period to put the victory out of reach for Bloomington.

The Ice Bears' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on five Bloomington power plays. Knoxville bested its season scoring average. This season, the Ice Bears average 2.7 goals per contest. By firing 34 shots on goal, Knoxville exceeded the 24.6 shots it averages per game this year.

Knoxville additionally got points from Eric Satim, who also registered one goal and one assist and Berkley Scott, who also grabbed one goal and two assists. Knoxville also had goals scored by Andrew Dovey, Jon Higgins, and David Segal, who each put in one. Other players who recorded assists for Knoxville were Mark Van Vliet, who had two, Peter Neal, who had four, and Lucas Chavira-Schramm, Brad Pawlowski, Ryan Hill, Brady Vandenberk, Jeremy Klaver, and Ben Souders, who each chipped in one.

The Thunder's defensemen bolstered Bloomington's offensive attack, as they bombarded Cody Rosen with eight shots.

The Thunder were led by Tyler Noseworthy, who took two shots.

Rosen rejected 18 shots on goal for the Ice Bears. Knoxville totaled 15 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 2-for-5 on the power play. Breton Lindoff made 17 saves before being replaced by BJ OBrien, who took the loss and made nine saves. Bloomington ended with 17 minutes in penalty time with six minors and one major.