Behind a great game by Scott Cuthrell, who had two goals and two assists, the Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks defeated the Toledo Cherokee, 8-3.

Cuthrell found the back of the net 13:15 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Cleveland and again while 23 seconds into the second to make the score 4-3 Cleveland.

The win gave Cleveland a 1-0 lead in the best of five series.

The Jr. Lumberjacks made Toledo's netminders to work between the pipes, launching 33 shots and forcing 25 saves. Nate Gay made 10 stops and Nathan Miller made 15.

Cleveland additionally got points from Andrew Mitch, who also registered one goal and one assist, Louis Sawchik, who also finished with one goal and one assist, and Fred West, who also grabbed one goal and one assist. Kyle Gonzalez also scored for Cleveland. Other players who recorded assists for Cleveland were Jeff Monfils, Bo Zinner, and Dominic Valencia, who contributed one a piece and Zach Seither, Nick Balavich, and Dallas Szustak, who each chipped in two.

The Cherokee kept Cleveland's goalie busy throughout the game, and Joseph Moza made 29 saves on 32 shots.

Toledo was helped by Connor Crowe, who racked up two goals. Crowe scored the first of his two goals at 13:33 into the first period to make the score 2-2. Andrew Benyo assisted on the tally. Crowe's next tally made the score 3-3 with 46 seconds left in the first period. Toledo also got points from Blake Podgorski, who also tallied one goal and one assist. More assists for Toledo came via Jordan Prewitt and Austin Turner, who contributed one a piece.

The Jr. Lumberjacks incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with seven minors. The Cherokee incurred 16 minutes in penalty time with eight minors.