And though there was no mirror ball over the ice or white leisure suits evident in the stands, you could tell by they used their sticks that the New Mexico Scorpions and Arizona Sundogs knew they were down to the last chance to make the Central Hockey League playoffs.

Unfortunately for New Mexico fans, it’s the Scorpions’ postseason aspirations that are deader than disco.

Joel Irving’s unassisted goal with 12:32 remaining proved to be the difference as the defending league champion Sundogs defeated New Mexico 2-1. The result knocked the Scorpions out of the playoff race and kept Arizona’s chance to qualify alive.

Irving’s team-high 35 goal came as the result of a fluke. New Mexico defenseman Michael Beynon attempted to clear the puck from behind his net and instead put it right on Irving’s stick, and the Sundog forward fired from just outside the crease to beat goalie Kyle McNulty for the game winner.

It appeared New Mexico had tied the game twice in the final two minutes, but the officials waived both off. The first, with 1:46 left, went in on an Aaron Macinnis rebound shot; the second, with 6.9 seconds left, came off the stick of Christopher Robertson.

It was a angry, disappointing ending for most of the 2,706 fans, some of whom threw cups on the ice to protest the result. Many of the fans had to wait more than an 1½ hours for the game to start because of unplayable ice.

A faulty compressor prevented the ice from freezing in time for the 7:15 p.m. start. Lights were kept off in the arena to speed up the freezing process and fans were not allowed in the lower seating areas for insurance liability reasons until after 8 p.m.

When the game got started, it was both teams’ offense that was cold. Arizona scored in the first period on Dwayne Hay’s short poke from just outside the crease; New Mexico evened the contest on Seth Leonard’s power play goal in the second period.

With Corpus Christi’s 3-1 loss at Rio Grande Valley, Arizona pulled within one point for the final playoff spot in the Southern Conference. Corpus Christi has 60 points, Arizona 59 and New Mexico 56 entering Saturday, the final game of the season.

The Ice Rays can clinch the final playoff spot by winning (two points) or making overtime (one point) at Bossier-Shreveport because Corpus Christi holds the tiebreaker advantage.

If Corpus Christi loses and Arizona beats New Mexico again tonight, the Sundogs make the playoffs.

New Mexico’s best chance to catch the Ice Rays was dashed on Thursday when the Scorpions lost 5-4 at Amarillo on an overtime goal by Sam Ftorek. Had the Scorpions been able to pull out a victory, they would have only been two back of Corpus Christi starting Friday’s play.