Sam Bowles scored the go-ahead goal in the first period, and the Columbus Cottonmouths held off the challenges of the Fayetteville FireAntz in a tough 2-1 win.

The Cottonmouths' Andrew Loewen was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 28 saves and let only one puck past him. The solid play of Loewen will be reflected in his goals against average, which pre-game was 1.98.

Columbus was led by John Sullivan, who racked up one goal. Sullivan scored 3:16 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Columbus. Bret Tyler assisted on the tally.

The Cottonmouths' penalty kill was spotless, allowing no goals on five Fayetteville power plays. Columbus put 43 shots on net during the contest, more than the 26.2 it averages per game.

Other players who recorded assists for Columbus were Brett Hammond and Matt Gingera, who each chipped in one.

Fayetteville was held below its usual level of production. The FireAntz average 3.9 goals per game. Fayetteville relied on a core group of players for most of its offense, as Josh McQuade, Derek Elliott and Andrew Smale took 16 of the team's 29 shots.

The FireAntz were led by Brian Elser, who scored the team's only goal. Elser scored 11:00 into the second period to make the score 2-1 Columbus. Ben Contini picked up the assist.

The Cottonmouths totaled 15 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 0-for-1 on the power play. Marco Emond recorded 41 saves for Fayetteville. The FireAntz ended with seven minutes in penalty time with one minor and one major.