The Cincinnati Swords tried to dig themselves out of a three-goal hole, but the Pittsburgh Vengeance held on for a 5-3 victory.

Pittsburgh made the score 5-2 on a goal by Parker Henry at 17:27 in the third period, and Cincinnati got as close as 5-3 when Gennadi Zabeline scored 18:24 into the third period.

Nils Markgren had two goals and one assist to lead the Vengeance. Markgren scored the first of his two goals at 7:01 into the first period to make the score 1-0 Pittsburgh. Cody Black provided the assist. Markgren's next tally made the score 2-2 with 15:20 left in the second period. Bryan Hovanec picked up the assist.

Pittsburgh put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow the Swords to score on any of their three power plays.

Pittsburgh also got points from Hovanec, who also racked up one goal and two assists and Dominick Glavach, who also tallied one goal and one assist. Other players who recorded assists for Pittsburgh were Brennan Conway and Jake Parry, who contributed one each.

Cincinnati was helped by Chris Hubbard, who registered one goal. Hubbard scored 18:20 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Cincinnati. Oliver Ahlberg provided the assist. Cincinnati also got a goal from Hunter Schneider as well. In addition, Cincinnati received assists from Adam Goudelock, who had two and Jessie Fracassi, Brenden Williams, and Addison Collins, who each chipped in one.

Brian Baker recorded 19 saves for the Vengeance. Pittsburgh incurred six minutes in penalty time with three minors. The Swords' Brandon Kruger stopped 25 shots out of the 30 that he faced. Cincinnati incurred four minutes in penalty time with two minors.