Marcus Holzschuh sat by himself in Dimond's dressing room before Thursday's boys hockey game against East and practiced his pre-game focus.

Holzschuh is a backup goaltender for the Lynx, and he's only started two games this season. But when Holzschuh heard starter Neil Gotschall had a nagging injury, he knew anything was possible.

Even his first big-time performance on varsity.

Sure enough, Holzschuh got the call with a 2-0 lead after the first period and turned aside all but one shot to secure a 5-1 Cook Inlet Conference win over the Thunderbirds at Ben Boeke Arena.

"I was pretty ecstatic," Holzschuh said. "This was my first real game of the season."

Not to belittle Kenai and Eagle River -- the two teams Holzschuh started against -- but East (6-2-1) fired him up more than the Kardinals and Wolves, who produced a combined 10 shots on goal.

"I was nervous," the junior said. "But I was happy everything turned out good."

Michael Stoner bagged two goals, Erik Cooper scored his team-leading sixth goal and the defense held fast as the Lynx (8-0-0) won their eighth straight.

East pelted Gotschall with 12 shots on goal in the first period, which matched a season-high for total saves in a game.

But Dimond coach Dennis Sorenson said one period was enough for his senior, who came into the game with a 1.67 goals against average. He left with an undisclosed lower-body injury and left the netminding up to Holzschuh.

"I don't know if the guys were confident (in Holzschuh), so they may have picked it up," Sorenson said. "But Marcus got some chances and came up with some big saves."

After Holzschuh made his 14th consecutive save of the night, East's Ryan Luiten blew one past the Dimond rookie on the power play in the third period. The goal -- Luiten's ninth of the season -- cut Dimond's lead to 3-1 and gave East a chance to rally with 4:34 to go.

But neither Holzschuh nor the Lynx panicked. Stoner and Cooper scored in the final 3:29 and the Lynx's defense gave Holzschuh some protection.

"You always know someone has your back if you slip up," junior defenseman Dax Lauwers said. "That's what makes our team pretty solid."

Dimond2 1 2 -- 5

East0 0 1 -- 1

First Period -- 1, Dimond, Stoner (unassisted), 0:22; 2, Dimond, Mobley (unassisted), 10:40. Penalties -- Dimond 0 for 0; East 0 for 0.

Second Period -- 3, Dimond, Ad. Treptow (Christianson), 1:25. Penalties -- Dimond 1 for 2; East 2 for 4.

Third Period -- 4, East, Luiten (Christianson, Cohen), 10:26 (pp); 5, Dimond, Stoner (Cooper, Fairchild), 11:31; 6, Dimond, Cooper (Fairchild), 13:57 (sh). Penalties -- Dimond 4 for 16; East 1 for 2.

Goalies -- Dimond, Gotschall 12-x-x--12; Holzschuh x-6-9--15.

ADVERTISEMENT