A hat trick by Bryce Williamson was the highlight in Cottonmouths' 5-1 win against the Knoxville Ice Bears.

Knoxville was stymied by the Columbus Cottonmouths' netminder Shannon Szabados, who stopped 31 shots during the victory. The solid play of Szabados will be reflected in his goals against average, which pre-game was 3.04.

Columbus' offense was clicking better than usual and put 35 shots on goal during the game, better than the 30.1 shots per game it averages.

Columbus also got points from Matt Gingera, who also tallied one goal and two assists. Shawn Bates also scored for Columbus. More assists for Columbus came via Ben OQuinn, Louis Belisle, Andy Willigar, Chris Bailer, and Neilsson Arcibal, who contributed one each.

The 32 shots that the Ice Bears put on net surpassed Knoxville's average of 16.3 shots per game this season.

The Ice Bears were led by Matthew Paton, who scored the team's only goal. Paton scored on the power play 6:45 into the third period to make the score 2-1 Columbus. Knoxville had gained a power play chance when Kyle Johnson was whistled for cross checking. Ben Power provided the assist.

The Cottonmouths incurred 18 minutes in penalty time with nine minors. The Ice Bears' Curtis Martinu stopped 30 shots out of the 35 that he faced. Knoxville incurred 18 minutes in penalty time with nine minors.