Evansville almost clawed its way back from a three-goal deficit, but Peoria managed to pull out a 5-4 win in the end.

Peoria led by three goals at one point and ended with the victory. The largest advantage in the game came when Peoria's Chance Homerin scored at 10:30 in the second period to put Peoria up 4-1.

Thomas Kolaz had a great game for Peoria, netting two goals. Kolaz found the back of the net 18:10 into the first period to make the score 2-0 Peoria and again while 12:38 into the third to make the score 5-4 Peoria.

Evansville's power play was ineffective against Peoria's penalty kill, which allowed one goal while shorthanded.

Peoria forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up nine minors and one major for 33 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 29.0 minutes per game Peoria had been spending in the box. Peoria kept Evansville's goalie busy throughout the game, and Brian Forness made 44 saves on 49 shots.

Peoria also got points from Jason Hoehn, who also registered two goals and one assist to lead the team in points. In addition, Peoria received assists from Andrej Buchko and Michael Butera, who contributed one each.

Evansville put up an impenetrable defensive front on the penalty kill, and did not allow Peoria to score on any of its four power plays. Evansville's penalty killing units received substantial work throughout the game as Evansville finished with 40 penalty minutes.

Evansville was led by William Bonser, who tallied two goals. Bonser scored the first of his two goals at 8:54 into the second period to make the score 3-1 Peoria. Brandon Bornkamp picked up the assist. Bonser's next tally made the score 4-3 Peoria with 39 seconds left in the second period. Bornkamp assisted on the tally. Evansville additionally got points from Triston Theriot, who also racked up one goal and one assist. Evansville also got a goal from Michael Kelley as well. More assists for Evansville came via Jon Grimm, who had one.

Ross Lipic made 21 saves for Peoria on 25 shots. Peoria ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Mitchell Macek was ejected from the game.