The Louisiana IceGators tried to dig themselves out of a four-goal hole, but the Knoxville Ice Bears held on for a 4-3 victory.

A goal by Josh Cousineau put Knoxville up 4-0 in the second period, but Louisiana pulled to within one on Chris Wilson's tally 10:53 into the third period.

The Ice Bears' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on three Louisiana power plays. Knoxville relied on a core group of players for most of its offense, as Eric Satim, Francis Drolet and Dennis Sicard took 16 of the team's 31 shots.

In addition, Knoxville received assists from Robbie Donahoe, Ben Schoeneberger, Jack Paul, Jake Johnson, Jason Price, Peter Neal, Brett Valliquette, and Jarrett Rush, who each chipped in one.

The IceGators' offense was clicking better than usual and put 34 shots on goal during the game, better than the 19.3 shots per game they average.

Louisiana was led by Jeremy Boyer, who had one goal and one assist. Boyer scored 6:34 into the third period to make the score 4-2 Knoxville. Jake Hauswirth picked up the assist. Kirk Byczynski also scored for Louisiana. Other players who recorded assists for Louisiana were Shawn McNeil and Mitchell Stretch, who contributed one each.

Bryan Hince made 31 saves for the Ice Bears on 34 shots. Knoxville incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. The IceGators took out Marco De Filippo after he had made 18 saves and installed Matt Zenzola in goal, where he finished with nine saves and the loss. Louisiana incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.