The first quarter ended with each team only mustering one goal. For the Waterdogs, the issues were similar to many of their drought this season. Many Waterdogs offensive substitutions didn’t come until more than halfway through their possession. While the possessions lingered on, the offense failed to pose much of a threat. Many times the Redwoods defense prevented the Waterdogs from unleashing a clean shot on goalie Tim Troutner (11 saves). 

The Redwoods offense did enough in the first half to match its stalwart defense. Several of the Redwoods' opportunities were a product of how the Waterdogs reacted. One drive lured Zach Currier slightly off his line and left Joe Walters open for a catch-and-shoot goal. Another goal came from Ryder Garnsey banging bodies with Chris Sabia. Once Garnsey felt Sabia stumble on the first body collision, he drove to the cage and scored easily. 

Garnsey, who finished with two goals and two assists, initiated for himself while also benefiting from inefficient slides from the Waterdogs. One skip pass from Garnsey led to a goal for Brent Adams, who tallied a hat-trick in his first start at attack for the Redwoods. 

The Redwoods dominated the powerplay on both ends until it almost became their unpinning. The Waterdogs entered the game with the PLL’s worst powerplay but converted on two of their four opportunities. After the Redwoods had nailed a two-point shot from Jones to complete a perfect two-for-two outing with the extra man, they failed to guard the arc themselves. Off a restart, Connor Kelly bounced in a two-point goal to bring the Waterdogs within a goal late in the fourth quarter.