Nick Wheeler scored the go-ahead goal in the first period, and the Huntsville Havoc held off the challenges of the Peoria Rivermen in a tough 3-1 win.

The Havoc's Kevin Genoe was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 35 saves and let only one puck past him. The solid play of Genoe will be reflected in his goals against average, which pre-game was 2.62.

Huntsville was paced by Stuart Stefan, who tallied one goal. Stefan scored 11:59 into the first period to make the score 2-0 Huntsville. Justin Cseter picked up the assist.

The Havoc racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with 11 minors and two majors for 62 minutes in penalty time. Huntsville had been averaging 22.0 minutes in penalties per game. The Havoc stifled Peoria's power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Huntsville was below its usual level of shot production, taking 17 shots compared to the 27.0 the Havoc average.

Huntsville also got points from Wheeler, who also registered one goal and one assist. Luke Greiner also scored for Huntsville. In addition, Huntsville received assists from Drew Akins and Lucas Van Natter, who contributed one each.

The Rivermen were often in penalty trouble, totaling 10 minors and two majors for 40 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 21.0 minutes per game Peoria had been spending in the box. The Rivermen put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Huntsville to score on any of its four power plays. Peoria's offense rang up 36 shots on the Havoc's net.

The Rivermen were led by Steve Morra, who scored the team's only goal. Morra scored 3:39 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Huntsville. Garrett Vermeersch assisted on the tally.

Huntsville ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Corey Bellamy was ejected from the game. Kyle Rank made 14 saves for Peoria on 16 shots. The Rivermen registered zero goals on five power play opportunities.