BETHEL PARK — The only look on Butler defenseman Jonathan Fair's face was elation.

After an underwhelming seven-game stretch before the PIHL Class AAA playoffs, the Golden Tornado defenseman had a reason to smile.

With a 3-1 decision over Bethel Park Tuesday night at BladeRunners, Butler earned its first playoff win since the 2003-2004 season.

The Golden Tornado went one-and-done in the past two postseasons and entered this one on a 2-5 skid, including two shutout losses.

“It feels great to be on the other end of it after last year. The end of this season was kind of dragging out,” Fair said. “We talked all season about riding the wave, not worrying about the lows and not getting too up on the highs. I'd say we were kind of at a low coming into this game.”

Sixth-seeded Butler (12-8-3) will try to ride its high against second-seeded Peters Township in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. next Tuesday at the RMU Island Sports Complex.

The Indians are the defending champions and swept the Golden Tornado in the regular season.

First-year Golden Tornado coach Patrick Hammonds swelled with pride after the game, hugging any assistant coach or player in his path.

“It's nothing short of special to watch what these guys have accomplished,” Hammonds said. “That's something we set out to do at the beginning of the year is to develop and grow these players so they'd be in this situation today and do something that hasn't been done in a long time.”

Fair thought the team's game-day theme of sacrifice made the biggest difference.

Butler was aggressive with its shot-blocking and killed three Black Hawks' power plays.

Golden Tornado goaltender Clay Bachman made 25 saves.

“We were solid on special teams tonight,” Fair said. “A big part of that was sacrificing. We were blocking shots on the penalty kill and that's something we lacked all season. It was nice to see everyone buy in tonight.”

Buying in was easier after what happened in the teams' first meeting.

Bethel Park pulled its goalie and scored twice to nearly erase a three-goal deficit during a Butler win in November.

Facing a similar deficit,the Black Hawks pulled goalie William Lowe for the final 3 minutes, 17 seconds when they were behind 3-1.

Bethel Park (14-7-2) had a six-on-four advantage soon after when Cameron Barto took a two-minute penalty for boarding.

“Playing in a six-on-four is something you don't see all the time, but it's something the guys need to be prepared for,” Hammonds said. “Our guys bought in, worked on it and knew what to do.”

The Golden Tornado's penalty kill, led by Sam Gross, kept Bethel Park off the board. Butler was able to ice the puck and prevent good looks during the final stretch.

The Black Hawks held a 26-20 advantage in shots.

“We played the systems Coach Pat put in place and when the whole team buys into the system is when you're successful,” Gross said.

Three second-period goals gave Butler all the offense it needed.

Trevor Gilliland set Connor Scott up in the right circle for the Golden Tornado's first. Scott buried the shot in the top right-hand corner with 15:57 remaining.

Gilliland doubled the lead, scoring on an assist from Scott, a minute after the Golden Tornado killed a 5-on-3 penalty.

An aggressive attack by Fair, plus a little luck put Butler up 3-0. Fair flicked a shot that hit the far post and rolled along the goal line.

The puck crossed the line after moving for a few seconds, just in front of a lunging Lowe.

Gary Cerrone scored Bethel Park's only goal on a power play with 9:07 remaining after Gross was whistled for tripping.

The Black Hawks had several near misses and hit the post twice, but couldn't overcome the deficit.

That allowed Butler to steal its first playoff win in over a decade.

“We roll with the circumstances and try our best to win the game,” Gross said.