The La Crosse Freeze and the Peoria Mustangs were evenly matched throughout their contest, but La Crosse made the most of its opportunities and won, 3-2.

The Freeze gained the winning advantage on a goal by Daniel Toycen 17:13 into the third period and hung on until final buzzer.

La Crosse was paced by Toycen, who racked up one goal and one assist.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 41 seconds into the first period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with three game misconducts.

Penalties took their toll on the Freeze, as their penalty kill unit let in two power play goals.

La Crosse also had goals scored by Anthony Miller and Chong Hyun Lee, who scored one goal each. Other players who recorded assists for La Crosse were Hunter Dragosh, Blake Olinyk, Hunter Smith, Dan Marotz, and Brit Brothen, who contributed one each.

Peoria's penalty box was a popular destination as the team totaled seven minors and one major for 39 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 25.0 minutes per game the Mustangs had been spending in the box. Peoria forced La Crosse goalie Cameron Scheuren to work between the pipes, taking 34 shots.

The Mustangs were helped by Thomas Kolaz, who had one goal. Kolaz scored on the power play 53 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Peoria. Jason Hoehn provided the assist. Peoria also got a goal from Mitchell McPherson as well. In addition, Peoria received assists from Kai Barber, Nathan Scofield, and Austin Ziakas, who each chipped in one.

Scheuren rejected 32 shots on goal for the Freeze. La Crosse totaled 44 minutes in penalty time with two minors and two majors and went 1-for-6 on the power play. The Freeze ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Taylor Trapp was ejected from the game. Ross Lipic made 16 saves for Peoria on 19 shots. For the Mustangs, Levi Armstrong was ejected from the game.