The Knoxville Ice Bears tried their best to erase a three-goal deficit, but the Peoria Rivermen would not be denied the victory and hung on to win, 4-3.

A goal by Tim Hall put Peoria up 3-0 in the third period, but Knoxville pulled to within one on Bo Driscoll's tally 10:00 into the third period.

The Rivermen relied on a core group of players for most of their offense, as Chris Wilson, Garrett Vermeersch and Hall took 14 of the team's 24 shots.

More assists for Peoria came via Brandon Greenside and Dan Bremner, who each chipped in one.

The Ice Bears relied heavily on their defensemen to assist their forwards, and the blueliners responded by scoring two goals on nine shots.

Knoxville was helped by Corey Hale, who grabbed one goal. Hale scored on the power play 8:29 into the third period to make the score 3-1 Peoria. The Ice Bears had gotten the advantage when Peoria's Vermeersch was sent off for hooking. Driscoll picked up the assist. Knoxville also got points from Driscoll, who also had one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Zack LaRue also scored for Knoxville. Other players who recorded assists for Knoxville were Jason Berube, Todd Hosmer, and Doug Reid, who contributed one each.

Kyle Rank made 17 saves for the Rivermen on 20 shots. Peoria incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors. Knoxville's Bryan Hince stopped 20 shots out of the 24 that he faced. The Ice Bears incurred eight minutes in penalty time with four minors.