Rath’s breakaway goal bolsters Dimond in upset win over West in CIC hockey tourney

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 9

West’s Corey Miscovich is knocked off his skates by Dimond’s Blake Hausinger in the first period. West faced Dimond in the opening round of the Cook Inlet Conference hockey championship tournament at Ben Boeke Ice Arena on January 31, 2017. (Marc Lester / Alaska Dispatch News)

With an electric crowd rocking a jam-packed Ben Boeke Arena, Dimond forward Tanner Rath hammered home an unassisted, breakaway goal early in the third period and led the Lynx to a win that shattered West's chance at a third straight state hockey crown.

Sixth-seeded Dimond, playing the unusual role of underdog, defeated third-seeded West 1-0 Tuesday in the first round of the Cook Inlet Conference hockey tournament. With the win, Dimond advanced to the CIC semifinals and earned a guaranteed berth to the state tournament.

In the late CIC tournament game, Chugiak rolled past East 7-1 at the McDonald Center.

"We had a pretty rough game the previous (time against West), and we just had to come into this with our heads held high," Rath said. "Our goalie played great, defense was great, coach knew what to do and we just had to go get to work."

Dimond's win came less than a week after falling to the Eagles, 4-1 in their regular season finale. But the Lynx (6-8-1) won five of their last seven games of the regular season — a big improvement from the early part of the season.

"After Christmas break, we came back with a whole new mindset that we were done losing," said Dimond goalie Ted Stevens, who snagged 26 saves in the shutout. "In our last eight games, we've won six of them, so that winter break really brought us together and we came back flying."

The Lynx also had some extra motivation. They've dedicated the rest of their season to coach Dennis Sorenson's son, Joshuah, who died Jan. 22 from health complications in his home in Texas. The players wore No. 40 stickers on their helmets in honor of Joshuah.

"We just wanted to win it for him," Rath said. "We wore No. 40 for his number on our helmets, and we'll continue to wear that as we get to go on in these playoffs."

For most of the game, the defensive slugfest looked like it could go either way. West goalie Connor Batman was solid with 26 saves, and the first two periods were scoreless.

West (9-6-0) started with three quick shots on goal in the first minute, but none were close to getting past Stevens.

Dimond took over the momentum on a power play midway through the first period and a Ryan Perius shot from the right side almost tumbled past Batman, but he got enough of the puck to clear the goal.

Dimond received two more power plays back-to-back in the second period to no avail.

Rath lit up the scoreboard with his goal a minute into the third period.

"The puck went out to the point, and I went to block it with it (with) my shin pads, (and) I got a breakaway," Rath said. "I saw an opening and didn't want to shoot too hard, but it ended up going in anyway."

Penalties started piling up in the third period with four against each team. The referees had to slide in several times to separate players, including once when two Dimond attackers flew into Batman, knocking his mask off on a wild save.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Dimond players rushed to celebrate with Stevens at the Lynx goal.

"The boys in front of me played great, kept the shots outside," Stevens said. "I didn't have to make any real big saves.

"(We) just came out with the win, worked hard all the way through."

The celebration won't last long, though. The Lynx will play Chugiak in Thursday's CIC semifinal. The other semifinal features No. 1 South against No. 5 Eagle River.

"Coach told us practice is 2:45 (Wednesday)," Stevens said. "So, we keep rolling."

Chugiak 7, East 1

John Hammer hauled in a hat trick and Chugiak hauled in a 7-1 win over East on Tuesday to earn a spot in the state tournament and advance to the semifinals in the CIC tournament.

Zachary Krajnik added three assists and a goal at the McDonald Center for the second-seeded Mustangs — last year's CIC tourney champions.

Kevin Lewis scored a third-period goal for East.