Five unanswered goals and swarming defense were the difference maker as the sun began to set over Swinehart Field in Utica.

Eisenhower was the team with all the heroics, while Anchor Bay squandered what could have been a low-scoring victory.

The Eagles (10-8) pulled off an 8-4 win over the Tars (9-7) in a Division I regional semifinal, thus advancing in the playoffs. Junior midfielder Matthew Bean scored four of his team’s final six goals.

“We were motivated to work harder and wake up,” Bean said. “Coming into this game, I think some of our guys thought this was going to be an easy win, but it wasn’t. They are a great team, and we had to make some adjustments.”

As a reward for snatching a victory, Eisenhower gets to play Lake Orion, a team that’s 17-2 overall, in the regional championship at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Dragons defeated L’Anse Creuse North, 17-4, to advance.Eisenhower coach Andrew Ferrari said he knows Lake Orion is the favorite but plans to stick with his own game plan rather than conforming to what the Dragons throw at him.

“We need to play our game,” Ferrari said. “They are going to expand their game and do something we aren’t ready for. We have to understand where we are at and bring what we can to the table.

“Don’t try to play the Lake Orion game; play the Ike game.”

Back on May 7, Eisenhower pulled off a commanding 14-2 win over Anchor Bay. This time around, things were different. Both teams went back-and-forth down the field and players traded blows to gain an edge. More importantly, the contest was shockingly close.

“They came in off an upset of a number two seed, so they were feeling good,” Ferrari said of Anchor Bay. “They played a phenomenal game, disrupted us where we were comfortable, caused us to overthink and adjusted. We made mistakes and got a little bit lazy.”

Eisenhower junior attacker Evan Gregorich, as he has so often, burned Anchor Bay goalie Jake Allen after five minutes for a 1-0 lead. About 30 seconds later, a response was made by Anchor Bay

Junior midfielder Matthew Usery punished the back of the cage to tie the game with 6:35 left in the first quarter. Fellow junior midfielder Evan Cloninger scored against Eisenhower goalie Mark  Denha with less than two minutes left in the frame to take a 2-1 margin over the Eagles.

Eisenhower junior midfielder Antonio Sumner and Bean scored the only goals in the second frame to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.

Following a second-quarter drought, Anchor Bay struck on a sharply snapped goal from junior attacker Chris Domanski to knot the game, 3-3, just 66 seconds into the second half.

Anchor Bay senior defender Stephen Domanski made a massive hit and was penalized for it. However, the body check seemed to motivate Eisenhower sophomore midfielder Nicholas Price, who began pushing and shoving multiple members of the Tars team.

The altercation had to be broken up with 7:11 left in the third quarter.

“You never want to see that,” Ferrari said. “You want to keep things clean, but I love getting physical. A couple of big body checks on both sides. There wasn’t a problem with most of the calls. I think it was a physical game, and each team took advantage of that. It’s how it should be.”

Domanski struck gold for the second straight time on a goal he should’ve had a few times. He missed from about 10 yards out, but Denha let the ball free from his reach when attempting to corral it. Domanski shot again  but missed. On the third and final try, he scored to give Anchor Bay a 4-3 edge with 2:35 left in the third.

The Tars had the lead for all of 56 seconds, as Bean scored on a wrap-around shot. Carson Riggs put Eisenhower ahead, 5-4, as time expired in the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Bean scored two goals and junior attacker Brandon McLane added another to hand the Tars a four-goal defeat. Ferrari said it was a dream come true to watch his squad turn it up a notch down the stretch.

Bean agreed.

“It’s about not just taking the first shot but taking the smartest shot,” the junior said. “We had to keep our eyes down the field. Fast movements lead to goals.”

Eisenhower had to earn the win without one of its top players in junior attacker Vaughn Shewell, who sustained a right foot injury in the team’s regional quarterfinal game against Dakota.

The extent of the injury was unknown.

“It’s not broken,” Ferrari said. “It could magically heal, or it could be three months. We really missed him today.”