In a rematch of last season's state hockey final, Service played defending champion Dimond pretty tough for about 37 minutes Friday at Ben Boeke Arena.
The problem for Service was the first eight minutes, in which Dimond scored four times on its way to a 6-1 Cook Inlet Conference victory -- the same score by which the Lynx won last season's finale.
It only took Dimond 61 seconds to take a 2-0 lead, with Joel Tomuro depositing the first goal before most fans had a chance to sit down.
Tomuro flipped the puck into the top, left portion of the goal right off the opening faceoff, just six seconds in. Assists came from Kenny Hausinger and Lane Bauer on the play, a routine the Lynx have practiced before.
"We've been doing it a lot lately," Tomuro said. "It's been working."
Most things have been working this season for the Lynx, whose only loss came to an undefeated South team earlier this month. Dimond improved to 8-1 in the CIC with Friday's win, and Service fell to 5-5.
Less than a minute after Tomuro's goal, Drake Glover buried another shot into the left side of the net, giving Dimond control.
"It must have been my pregame speech. I'll have to go back and figure out what I said," Dimond coach Dennis Sorensen said. "I think the guys were excited. They knew a quick start was important."
The Cougars looked forward to playing Dimond, Service coach Joel Carter said, because playing good teams always offers a chance to improve and measure skills. But Dimond's fast start just about killed the Cougars' enthusiasm.
"When I'm actually telling the next line to go up and I hear the whistle blow and I look up and they scored a goal, and that's not good," Carter said. "And then they had their heads down and you're trying to find a way to build 'em back up and then it happens again."
Dimond has been highly motivated after losing to South, Sorensen said. It was the first loss for Lynx in 40 games.
"It's had an effect on just about everybody, including the coaching staff," Sorensen said. "Since the loss to South, they've rededicated themselves in the weight room and on the ice. We've had a couple good wins now and unfortunately we're going on break for a couple weeks."
Goals by Walker Hamilton and Tyler Garcia put Dimond up 4-0 midway through the first period. Tomuro notched his second goal on a power play late in the second period, and Lane Bauer scored the game's final goal with less than a minute remaining in the third.
Service's goal came early in the third period, making the score 5-1 when Luke Cooley struck from close range in front of the net.
Dimond goalie Jordan MacMillan made five saves, and Service goalie Dustin Fritz made 23.
Eagle River 7, Bartlett 2
Brett Wood's hat trick led Eagle River to a 7-2 Cook Inlet Conference win over Bartlett on Friday night at the McDonald Center.
George Platt added a pair of goals for the Wolves, and Quinn Hulse and Carter Jesiel each furnished a goal and three assists.
Eagle River outshot the Golden Bears 35-12 and improved to 4-5 in the CIC heading into the holiday break.
Bartlett (0-9 CIC) got goals from Mason Rafter and Chance Aquino and 35 saves from Dakota Creek.
Martin decides game
Katy Martin scored the game-winning goal with 6 minutes, 30 seconds left in the second period of Service-East's 2-1 win over Dimond-West in a girls hockey game at Ben Boeke.
Dimond-West led 1-0 after one period on Stephanie Vandenbos' unassisted goal. Morgan Hill tied the game early in the second period off an assist from Kerianne Jansen, and then Amy Brassard fed Martin for the game winner.
Sarah Widmayer stopped 20 shots for the winners, and Lillian Lewis stopped 11 for Dimond-West.
Sperry carries team
Autumn Sperry erupted for four goals as the Chugiak-Eagle River girls hockey team defeated South-Bartlett 5-4 Friday at the McDonald Center. South-Bartlett led 4-1 after one period, but Chugiak-Eagle River rallied for two goals in each of the final two periods.
Sperry tied things up on an unassisted strike with 9:50 to go in the third, then iced the game off a Madi Meyer helper with five minutes to go. Goaltender Arika Mercer tallied 21 saves.
Georgianna Hoss scored twice for South-Bartlett, which also got goals from Claire Fitzpatrick and Morgan Newhouse.
Reach Jeremy Peters at jpeters@adn.com or 257-4335.
By JEREMY PETERS