The Cincinnati Swords gutted out a close 5-3 win against the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks.

No lead was more than two goals during the contest, and the winning goal was scored by Gennadi Zabeline at 13:47 of the third period.

Andrew Bond had two goals to lead Cincinnati to victory. Bond scored at 5:05 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Cincinnati and again while 5:28 into the second to make the score 2-1 Cincinnati.

The Swords' penalty kill excelled, as Cincinnati gave up one goal despite allowing seven power plays.

The Swords found the back of the net more times than it usually has this season. Cincinnati has scored at the pace of 2.5 goals per game during the current campaign.

Hunter Schneider also scored for Cincinnati. More assists for Cincinnati came via Drew Hill, who had three and Brenden Williams and Sid Quincy, who contributed one each.

Cleveland put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Swords to score on any of their five power plays.

The Jr. Lumberjacks were helped by Ryker Barber, who finished with one goal. Barber scored on the power play 16:15 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Cleveland. John Barlow picked up the assist. Cleveland additionally got points from Tyler Dalton, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Cleveland also got a goal from Daniel Goodwin as well. In addition, Cleveland received assists from Buddy Rose, who had one and Avery Huibregtse, who had two.

Brandon Kruger rejected 22 shots on goal for Cincinnati. The Swords incurred 12 minutes in penalty time with six minors. Cleveland's Alec Rounds stopped 24 shots out of the 28 that he faced. The Jr. Lumberjacks incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.