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

A goal by Chris Leveille put Fayetteville up 4-0 in the third period, but Knoxville pulled to within one on Mark Van Vliet's tally 19:03 into the third period.

The FireAntz excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances. By firing 27 shots on goal, Fayetteville exceeded the 21.5 shots it averages per game this year.

Fayetteville also got points from Jesse Biduke, who also had one goal and one assist. Jesse Cole also scored for Fayetteville. More assists for Fayetteville came via Josh McQuade, who had two and Matt Smyth, Mike Forgie, Chris Rebernik, and Kyle McNeil, who each chipped in one.

The Ice Bears' defensemen also contributed in the offensive zone and ended up with 17 shots between them. Knoxville put 41 shots on net during the contest, more than the 29.8 it averages per game.

The Ice Bears were helped by David Segal, who registered one goal. Segal scored 13:14 into the third period to make the score 4-2 Fayetteville. Eric Slais picked up the assist. Knoxville also got a goal from Emery Olauson as well. In addition, Knoxville received assists from Ricky Helmbrecht, who had two and Brad Pawlowski and Kevin Swider, who contributed one a piece.

The FireAntz's Erik Hudson stopped 38 shots out of the 41 that he faced. Fayetteville totaled 13 minutes in penalty time with four minors and one major and went 0-for-1 on the power play. Kyle Rank took the loss and made 22 saves before being replaced by Matt Hache who made one save. Knoxville ended with nine minutes in penalty time with two minors and one major.