The Essex 73s were firing on all cylinders against the Mooretown Flags, and when the final buzzer sounded 73s emerged with a 5-2 win.

Referees had their hands full with a major incident at 7:16 into the third period. Four fighting penalties were dished out along with two game misconducts.

Essex forced Mooretown's goaltenders to work hard to keep the puck out of the net, getting 53 shots and forcing 48 saves. Nolan Hakr made 16 stops and Brandon Johnson made 32.

The 73s were helped by Tyler Turner, who had one goal. Turner scored 28 seconds into the first period to make the score 1-0 Essex. Tyler Scott provided the assist. Essex also got points from Brett Vorshuk, who also registered one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. Essex also had goals scored by Cody Schneider, Luke Gecse, and Michael Vieira, who each put in one. More assists for Essex came via Matthew Rosati, Adam Gaiarin, Tyler Boughner, Max Viselli, and Alixe Saliba, who contributed one each.

The Flags excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in three chances.

Mooretown was helped by Jakob Reeves, who finished with one goal. Reeves scored 19:35 into the first period to make the score 3-2 Essex. Joe DeSena also scored for Mooretown. Other players who recorded assists for Mooretown were Ryan Lyle and Ben Morrison, who each chipped in one.

Essex's Trevor Wheaton stopped 21 shots out of the 23 that he faced. The 73s ended with seven minutes in penalty time with one minor and one major. Essex ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Vieira was ejected from the game. The Flags totaled nine minutes in penalty time with two minors and one major and went 0-for-1 on the power play. For Mooretown, Brent Blais was ejected from the game.