Tuesday delivered precisely what Dimond hockey coach Dennis Sorenson suspected, and met with some trepidation: A dicey first-round collision with East.
Sure, Dimond finished runner-up in the Cook Inlet Conference regular season and East ranked seventh in the eight-team league. But the gulf between the teams in the regular season standings wasn't reflected in their two regular-season games – Dimond squeaked out two wins.
So it was again Tuesday at Ben Boeke Arena, where Dimond edged East, 3-2, to earn a berth in the state tournament and also reach the CIC semifinals Thursday against third-seeded South, a 3-1 winner Tuesday night over Chugiak.
"Pepto-Bismol night,'' Sorenson said.
Just like the previous two meetings, which Dimond took, 1-0 and 2-0.
While Dimond thoroughly outshot East in those two regular-season games by a combined 72-39, East generated a 34-34 stalemate Tuesday. The Thunderbirds also scored the first goal of the game and were locked in a 2-2 tie midway through.
East hustled and banged and blocked a ton of shots, threatened on a third-period power play, and again gave Dimond a scare.
In hindsight, that wasn't much of a surprise, and not just because East played Dimond so tough in the regular season. While the T-birds went 2-12-0 in the conference's regular season, seven of their losses came by two goals or less, and nine by three goals or less – they were not pushovers. And freshman goaltender Lane Fox is an equalizer.
"We were kind of the sleeper team, and I think we knew that,'' said East coach Jeff Varvil.
The Lynx, 11-3-0 in the conference regular season, respected the T-birds because of those tight regular-season meetings and the level of persistence and commitment the T-birds brought to the rink.
"Honestly, we would have been happier playing a higher seed,'' said Lynx goal scorer Halen Herndon. "They battled hard and stuck with us. All credit to them.
"They're no slouches. They're a tough team and they have a great goalie.''
Devon Ament furnished the T-birds a 1-0 lead on a backhander midway through the first period. Herndon answered in the final minute of the period with a right-wing wrister through traffic.
The Lynx gained a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the second period on Cody Dearing's backhander, which came after defenseman Spencer Penman held the puck in at the right point and fed Dearing. Still, East's Nicholas Eddens responded with a power-play goal about two minutes later for a 2-2 tie.
Austin Fitzgerald bagged what stood as the game-winning goal for Dimond midway through the second period, snapping a point-blank shot past Fox off Tanner Dey's helper from the left corner.
Dimond goalie Chris Gardeline still had plenty of work to get his club to the finish line.
Gardeline stopped Eddens in alone on the doorstep later in the second. He got his blocker on Jack Reynolds' bid from left wing early in the third and flashed his left pad to stifle Eddens' redirection midway through. On East's power play soon after, Gardeline made a pad save on Reynolds and somehow corralled Felila Manu's shot from the center point, even as Eddens screened him at the edge of the crease.
Fox kept his team in the game until the end. His most startling save of the third period came when he kicked out his left pad to rob Tyler Dunn's rebound bid at the right post.
Only when the buzzer blared could the Lynx exhale. They were back in the state tournament, as they seemingly always are, and they still own a shot at the conference playoff title. The T-birds, meanwhile, did themselves proud at season's end.
"They're well-coached – they have three really good coaches on the bench,'' Sorenson said, referring to Varvil and his assistants, Sean Curry and B.J. Crum, both former Alaska Aces defensemen. "And their players play with passion. They played harder than my kids for most of the game, plus they have a good goalie.''
Herndon, who said he got his first name, Halen, because his mom named him after Eddie Van Halen, said he and his teammates are eager to face South in the semis.
"I think it's more nerve-racking for us to play a team like (East) and be prepared than it is to play South or Service,'' Herndon said. "We get focused for those teams, and for some reason we don't get as focused for East.''
South 3, Chugiak 1
Bryson Schmitz scored the game-winning goal early in the second period Tuesday night and Dyllan Beloy added an insurance goal late in the period to spark South to a 3-1 win over Chugiak and a spot in the state tournament.
Noah Ashley gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead at the McDonald Center in Eagle River with his first-period goal and Schmitz pumped the lead to 2-0 before Sam Hanson answered for the Mustangs with about four minutes left in the second period.
Jeremy Swayman backstopped South's win with 22 saves. Jack Straub stopped 24 shots for Chugiak.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com, check out his blog at adn.com/hockey-blog and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr