The Fayetteville FireAntz came close to giving away a three-goal lead to the Knoxville Ice Bears, but did just enough to escape with a 5-3 victory.

Fayetteville led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when the FireAntz's Kyle McNeil's scored at 19:12 in the first period to put Fayetteville up 4-1.

John Clewlow was all over the ice for the FireAntz, as he tallied two goals and one assist in the win. Clewlow scored the first of his two goals at 38 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Fayetteville. Ben Contini assisted on the tally. Clewlow's next tally made the score 2-0 Fayetteville with 15:58 left in the first period. Anthony Bergin picked up the assist.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 11:44 into the third period. Eight fighting penalties were dished out along with seven game misconducts.

Fayetteville forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up six minors and six majors for 72 minutes in penalty time. The FireAntz surpassed its season average of 22.0 penalty minutes per game. Fayetteville put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Knoxville to score on any of its four power plays.

Mike Gurtler also scored for Fayetteville. More assists for Fayetteville came via Derek Elliott, who had two and Corey Toy and Josh McQuade, who contributed one a piece.

The the Ice Bears penalty box was a popular destination as the team totaled six minors and six majors for 82 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 22.0 minutes per game Knoxville had been spending in the box. The Ice Bears' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on four Fayetteville power plays. Knoxville's defense was uncharacteristically lax during the game. The Ice Bears average 2.5 goals allowed per game. Knoxville put 41 shots on net during the contest, more than the 36.4 it averages per game.

The Ice Bears were led by Peter Neal, who tallied one goal and two assists. Neal scored 7:02 into the second period to make the score 4-2 Fayetteville. Shaun Arvai assisted on the tally. Knoxville also got a goal from Tyler Fernandez as well. In addition, Knoxville received assists from Mark Van Vliet, Brett Valliquette, and Berkley Scott, who each chipped in one.

Marco Emond rejected 38 shots on goal for the FireAntz. Team's Brock Sawyer, Bobby Reed, and Andrew Smale were slapped with misconducts and ejected from the game. Connor Toomey recorded 20 saves for Knoxville. For the Ice Bears, Brad Pawlowski, Jon Higgins, Valliquette, and David Segal were ejected from the contest.