Feeding off a great deal of emotion, Duke didn’t waste any time in scoring. Ben Tyson’s stick continued to get even hotter as he put in the game’s first goal only 38 seconds in. The gritty line of Putterman – Totino – Tolkin then hopped on the ice to spark more intensity for their team. Only 24 seconds later the trio put one in as Putterman threw the puck towards the net where Ryan Tolkin knocked it in. Duke held the lead and matched UNC’s physical play in the minutes that followed. Midway through the period however, UNC got two quick goals and tied the game at two. The Blue Devils were resolved to take the lead back and did so a little over two minutes later on the shoulders of the talented freshman Brandon Jenkins. Dom Totino soon added to the team’s second lead of the game by grabbing a rebound and sending it over the goalie’s left shoulder. A two-goal lead was not enough for this Blue Devils team though, as they saw their previous lead get erased in a heartbeat. Duke maintained strong defense in the remaining five minutes of the first, and with two minutes left defensemen Ryan Eick took notice of a screen in front of the net and sent a low slapshot into the slot that deflected into the net.

The second period was a lot tighter than the first, with both teams having to kill off a number of penalties. The Devils’ defense played well and even converted offensively on the penalty kill. With seven minutes left in the session Bert Maidment popped in a short-handed goal off a feed from Ben Tyson. UNC was finally able to get their third goal after their power play had expired, scoring an even strength goal with two and a half minutes remaining in the period.

The third period belonged to the Blue Devils as they outplayed the Heels in the final twenty minutes. Wilson Korel got on the board a minute in as he roofed a shot from the right side of the net off a chip pass from Dan Larrea. After an unassisted goal by the Tar Heels making it 7-4, Ben Tyson took off once again. With a little under half the period gone Peter Elkins-Williams made a great play tying up a UNC player to get the puck out of the Devils’ zone. Bert Maidment picked up the puck on the left boards and fed it to Tyson who went in and scored. A few minutes later Maidment and Tyson were at it again when Maidment used his golf skill to chip a high pass out of the Duke zone to Ben Tyson all alone at center ice. Tyson went in on the breakaway and with a sick deke faked forehand and scored on the backhand. Duke capped its scoring with a late power play goal that came off great cycling. Kevin Ford held the puck in the offensive zone at the blue line and passed it down to Alex Putterman who found Ryan Tolkin alone in the slot for his second goal of the night. The Blue Devils finished off the game strong and sent the Tar Heels back to Chapel Hill with a 10-4 loss.