The Knoxville Ice Bears tried their best to erase a three-goal deficit, but the Fayetteville FireAntz would not be denied the victory and hung on to win, 3-2.

A goal by Kyle McNeil put Fayetteville up 3-0 in the third period, but Knoxville pulled to within one on Andrew Dovey's tally 18:03 into the third period.

The FireAntz stifled the Ice Bears' power play, and did not give up a single goal while down a man. Fayetteville's offense was clicking better than usual and put 31 shots on goal during the game, better than the 21.3 shots per game it averages.

The FireAntz were helped by Justin Barr, who had one goal. Barr scored 6:16 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Fayetteville. Kevin Kessler picked up the assist. Fayetteville also got points from Tommy Lange, who also registered one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. More assists for Fayetteville came via Corey Tamblyn, Derek Elliott, and Bobby Reed, who contributed one each.

Knoxville excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances. The Ice Bears relied on a core group of players for most of their offense, as Mark Van Vliet, Eric Satim and Ben Souders took 20 of the team's 34 shots.

In addition, Knoxville received assists from Berkley Scott, who had one and Jeremy Klaver, who had two.

Peter Skoggard recorded 32 saves for Fayetteville. The FireAntz ended with 13 minutes in penalty time with four minors and one major. Knoxville's Cody Rosen stopped 28 shots out of the 31 that he faced. The Ice Bears totaled 13 minutes in penalty time with four minors and one major and went 0-for-3 on the power play.