The Wisconsin Whalers were firing on all cylinders against the La Crosse Freeze, and when the final buzzer sounded Whalers emerged with a 9-1 win.

After the loss made the series score 1-0 in the best of three series, La Crosse faces elimination next time out.

Peter Henderson had two goals and one assist to lead Wisconsin. Henderson scored the first of his two goals at 3:07 into the second period to make the score 2-0 Wisconsin. Alex Anderson assisted on the tally. Henderson's next tally made the score 6-1 Wisconsin with 8:35 left in the third period. A hooking penalty on Alexander Rickoff had put the Whalers on the power play. Thomas Hanson provided the assist.

The Freeze were stymied by Wisconsin's netminder Evan Moyse, who stopped 29 shots during the victory. Moyse certainly lowered his goals against average, which was 2.33 entering the contest.

The Whalers forced Freeze's goalies to work all game long, ripping 48 shots and forcing 39 saves. Andrew Wagner made 31 stops and Cameron Scheuren made eight. Wisconsin capitalized on La Crosse's penalties, netting two goals while skating with a man advantage.

Wisconsin also got points from Ryan Martin, who also finished with one goal and one assist, Joe Perrelle, who also grabbed one goal and one assist, Anderson, who also racked up one goal and one assist, Austin Lewis, who also had one goal and one assist, and Kaleb Morley, who also registered one goal and one assist. Others who scored for Wisconsin included Will Holtan and Jamison Westaby, who each put in one. In addition, Wisconsin received assists from Adam Alcott, who had three and Dan Addie, Adam Schoenfeld, and Nolan Kepler, who each chipped in one.

La Crosse also got a goal from Travis Hall as well. More assists for La Crosse came via Hunter Smith and Tyler Gorniak, who contributed one each.

The Whalers ended with 13 minutes in penalty time with four minors and one major. The Freeze incurred six minutes in penalty time with three minors.