The Exeter Hawks and the Thamesford Trojans were evenly matched throughout their contest, but Exeter made the most of its opportunities and won, 5-3.

The Hawks gained the winning advantage on a goal by Cody Perriam 16:22 into the third period and hung on until final buzzer.

The win gave Exeter a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series.

The Hawks were led by Christopher Pfaff, who grabbed one goal. Pfaff scored 5:42 into the third period to make the score 4-4. Tyler Coleman provided the assist.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 16:38 into the third period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with three game misconducts.

Exeter's offense rang up 44 shots on Thamesford's net. Team could not crack the Trojans' penalty kill and was held to one power play goal while having nine opportunities to play with the man advantage.

Exeter also got points from Tyler Kettler, who also racked up one goal and one assist and Coleman, who also had one goal and one assist. Matt Clarke also scored for Exeter. Other players who recorded assists for Exeter were Austin Elkin, Trevor Thornton, Liam Melady, and Dylan Wilson-Foote, who contributed one each and Jon Baker and Chase Thornton, who each chipped in two.

The Hawks were unable to stop Thamesford from sending pucks towards the net, and the Trojans eventually piled up 33 shots on goal.

Thamesford was led by Matthew Smallman, who registered one goal and one assist. Smallman scored 19:16 into the first period to make the score 2-1 Exeter. Cole Chilvers picked up the assist. Thamesford additionally got points from Jake McColl, who also registered one goal and one assist. Thamesford also had goals scored by Joey Wright and Liam Billings, who scored one goal each. More assists for Thamesford came via Ian Burdett, who had one.

James Morreau recorded 30 saves for Exeter. The Hawks ended with 27 minutes in penalty time with six minors and one major. For Exeter, Baker was ejected from the game. Tyler Gubesch made 39 saves for the Trojans on 44 shots. Thamesford totaled 59 minutes in penalty time with 12 minors and one major and went 1-for-3 on the power play. For the Trojans, Hanspeter Senoner and Jack Saunders were ejected from the contest.