The Ft. Wayne Federals gutted out a close 3-2 win against the St. Louis Frontenacs.

Ft. Wayne gained the winning advantage on a goal by Eric Raspotnik 7:34 into the third period and hung on until final buzzer.

Both teams had a hard time staying out of the box, and they combined for 17 penalties during the game.

The Federals were led by Cody Hess, who registered one goal and one assist. Hess scored 13:31 into the first period to make the score 1-1. Nicholas Bentz picked up the assist.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 3:49 into the third period. Six fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

Ft. Wayne forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up four minors and three majors for 33 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 24 minutes per game the Federals had been spending in the box. Ft. Wayne made Frontenacs' goalies to work between the pipes, racking up 48 shots and forcing 45 saves. Loren Sawyer made seven stops and Alexander Reichle made 38. The Federals were held below their usual level of production. Ft. Wayne averages six goals per game.

Derek Moss also scored for Ft. Wayne. More assists for Ft. Wayne came via Spencer Johnson, Brendan Lewis, and Maxwell Richter, who each chipped in one.

St. Louis racked up the penalties in the contest, and ended with seven minors and three majors for 49 minutes in penalty time. The Frontenacs had been averaging 31 minutes in penalties per game. St. Louis forced Federals' goaltenders to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, firing 33 shots and forcing 31 saves. Dustin Buchanan made four stops and Richter made 27.

The Frontenacs were helped by Brett Barczewski, who finished with one goal. Barczewski scored 10:42 into the second period to make the score 2-2. Ryan Edwards assisted on the tally. St. Louis got a goal from Cory Brown as well. In addition, St. Louis received assists from Brendan Pavia, Timothy Livingston, and Coty Flynn, who contributed one each.

The Federals registered one goal on four power play opportunities. Ft. Wayne ran into disciplinary problems during the contest, and Richter was ejected from the game. St. Louis registered zero goals on one power play opportunities. For the Frontenacs, Reichle was ejected from the game.