Eric Long lifted Detroit Fighting Irish to a 5-2 victory with a hat trick against Decatur Blaze.

Long's first goal came 5:58 into the second period. He then added goals at 16:41 into the second and at 8:40 into the third.

Decatur Blaze's power play was ineffective against Detroit Fighting Irish's penalty kill, which allowed zero goals while shorthanded.

Detroit Fighting Irish forced Decatur Blaze's goalies to work between the pipes, firing 33 shots and forcing 28 saves. Paul Stomper made 25 stops and Brandon Macak made three. Detroit Fighting Irish put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Decatur Blaze to score on any of its six power plays.

Detroit Fighting Irish also got points from Ken Winter, who also had one goal and one assist. Robert Danyo also scored for Detroit Fighting Irish. More assists for Detroit Fighting Irish came via Steven Sewell, who had three and Shawn Eastman, Cody Dombrowski, and Christian Ramage, who contributed one each.

Decatur Blaze was led by Micah Young, who registered one goal and one assist. Young scored 17:05 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Decatur Blaze. Ryan Redpath assisted on the tally. Decatur Blaze also got a goal from Luka Znidarsic as well. In addition, Decatur Blaze received assists from Garret Maged and Brandon Adler, who each chipped in one.

Jacob Gorzelski recorded 28 saves for Detroit Fighting Irish. Detroit Fighting Irish totaled 35 minutes in penalty time with five minors and one major and went 2-for-7 on the power play. Decatur Blaze ended with 17 minutes in penalty time with six minors and one major.