The Norwich Merchants tried to dig themselves out of a four-goal hole, but the New Hamburg Firebirds held on for a 5-4 victory.

New Hamburg took a 5-1 lead during the second period, only to have Norwich storm back on a Mitchell Berzins goal 5:34 into the third period to pull to one goal down.

Carter Tracey had two goals and one assist to lead the Firebirds. Tracey scored the first of his two goals at 2:07 into the first period to make the score 1-0 New Hamburg. Kyle Mohr assisted on the tally. Tracey's next tally made the score 2-0 New Hamburg with 11:43 left in the first period. Chris Eckert picked up the assist.

Others who scored for New Hamburg included Jay Fried, Ben Playfair, and Jaden Goetz, who each put in one. In addition, New Hamburg received assists from Nolan Blum, Kory Nowak, David Jennings, Shawn Antonides, Andrew Boer, and Brodie Muckler, who each chipped in one.

The Merchants managed to stay out of the box better than usual, finishing with one minor for two minutes in penalty time. Norwich ended up below its season average of 14.0 penalty minutes per game.

Brandon Velda also scored for Norwich. More assists for Norwich came via Jesse Szabo, who had one, Kurtis Lavis, who had two, and Drake Morrell, who had three.

Ryan Purcell rejected 18 shots on goal for New Hamburg. The Firebirds incurred 14 minutes in penalty time with two minors. Patrick Maziarz took the loss and made 15 saves before being replaced by Justin Pacheco who made one save. The Merchants registered one goal on three power play opportunities.