Devin Berg made an impact only minutes into his first taste of the Dimond-South hockey rivalry, considered one of the best Anchorage can offer regardless of sport.

“I was feeling pretty good,” the Wolverines freshman said. “It was all rather electric and seemed to get us going.”

Berg tipped in Thomas Gularte’s back-door pass at the 2 minute, 33 second mark of the opening period for South’s first goal. The Wolverines never looked back and posted a 5-1 Cook Inlet Conference win versus Dimond on Saturday in front of a middling crowd at Ben Boeke Arena. The old Midtown Anchorage barn was only about 60-70% percent full, likely because of the odd choice of scheduling the game on a weekend early afternoon.

South seniors Thomas Tunney and Chase Mascelli combined for five points. Tunney pumped in two goals and Mascelli assisted on three of his squad’s final four scores. The Wolverines and Lynx had split their previous 12 meetings dating back to November 2019. The four-goal differential was the largest winning margin in the series in seven meetings – Dimond scored an 8-2 win on Feb. 11, 2022.

Berg’s goal was his second CIC score in South’s three league games. He was prepped to contribute as a first-year high school player thanks to the advice of Chase Berg, Devin’s older brother. Chase also played for South as a freshman during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season. He scored five points in nine CIC games that one go-around and has since moved on to play with the Helena Bighorns of the NA3HL, the Tier III junior league a step below the Tier II North American Hockey League.

“Chase told me that playing (CIC) was really fun and said to make sure to keep my head up because you’re going to see a lot of bigger guys than are going to hit and knock you down,” Devin Berg said.

The teams combined for 37 shots on goal, with South leading the way with 21. Wolverines goalie Noah Nevin stopped 15 shots while Lynx counterpart Abby Blevins finished with 16 saves.

Dimond senior Dane Connick ruined Nevin’s shutout bid with a power-play goal at 2:18 of the third.

As Alaska’s high school hockey teams are at or near the quarter pole of the regular season, deciphering who has what and how that will play in the postseason still seems a little murky. The hockey hasn’t looked great.

CIC HOCKEY
Through Saturday
CIC, Overall
West 3-0-0, 6-0-0
Dimond 3-1-0, 3-4-0
Chugiak 2-1-0, 4-3-0
South 2-1-0, 3-3-1
Bartlett (East) 1-2-0, 2-4-0
Service 1-4-0, 1-5-0
Eagle River 0-3-0, 2-3-0

Defending First National Cup Division I state-champion West seems far and away the class of the CIC at 3-0-0 and 6-0-0 overall. It will be interesting to see if anyone touches the Eagles – Dimond’s get the next shot Tuesday at Boeke. But everyone seems to be somewhat scrambling as rosters change day to day, whether it’s because of injury, comp-team demands or other commitments.

The dean of Anchorage high school coaches in his 34th season, Lynx coach Dennis Sorenson may really earn that stipend at season’s end. Dimond and South were both missing key personnel Saturday, and it showed, especially for the Lynx.

“When you are short players for certain games, you have to rely on your upperclassmen to manage their ice time and energy level,” Sorenson said. “We did that for half the game (Saturday) but then some players took too many liberties, and it just exhausts you. Then you make dumb decisions because you’re tired.

“We’re not used to be short-handed. I’m used to having a full corral and letting the horses go.”

To wit, Sorenson was less than pleased after two Lynx had just informed him of missing multiple future games because of a planned family vacation. Again, a sign of the times.

“I don’t understand why you play a team sport at a varsity level, and you go on vacation during the season,” said Sorenson, about as direct a fellow as you’ll find. “But I’m still going to push guys and strive to get the most out of them.”

ONE-TIMERS

• Lewis-Palmer High (Monument, Colo.) made an Alaska trip for the second straight season, completing this one with a 5-2 win over Service on Saturday at Boeke. The Rangers scored a 2-1 win on Friday night versus Chugiak in Eagle River. Lewis-Palmer beat Bartlett and Service on last season’s visit. Before heading back to Colorado late Sunday, the Rangers were expected to skate at Westchester Lagoon, attend Saturday’s Lake Superior State-UAA game and head out to Talkeetna for a little mushing excursion.
• Elsewhere around the state, West Valley is out of the gates with a 5-0-1 record after downing Wasilla 4-0 on Thursday. Eagle River traveled down to Kodiak over the weekend and scored the first two victories in coach John DeCaro’s tenure, winning 2-0 and 9-1 down on The Rock. Bartlett went 1-2-0 at Homer’s End of the Road Shootout, beating the Mariners and losing to Soldotna and Kenai.

Dimond 0 0 1 – 1
South 2 3 0 – 5
First Period – 1, South, Berg (Gularte, Zuber), 2:33; 2, South, Lake (Mascelli), 10:34. Penalties – Dimond 1 for 2 minutes; South 0 for 0.
Second Period – 3, South, Tunney (Mascelli), :20; 4, South, Jennings (Scott), 4:16; 5, South, Tunney (Mascelli), 6:58 (pp). Penalties – Dimond 1 for 2; South 1 for 2.
Third Period – 6, Dimond, Connick (Melson, Woodhead), 2:18 (pp). Penalties – Dimond 5 for 13; South 3 for 6.
Goalies – Dimond, Blevins 6-2-8—16. South, Nevin 5-5-5—15.
Referee – Matthew Chouinard, Travis Jackson. Linesman – Chris Rothermel, Derek Scoggins.