After dropping a 2-1 decision on Friday night, the Corpus Christi IceRays rebounded despite going down 3-1 in the final period on Saturday night to earn a split with the Wichita Falls Wildcats and now hold a 2pt lead over the 5th place Cats’ with just eight games remaining for Corpus Christi in the regular season. .
GAME #51 – 3-8-13: Corpus Christi 1-2 Wichita Falls – The Corpus Christi IceRays despite piling 40 shots on net could not overcome two second period goals as the Wichita Falls Wildcats pulled out a 2-1 victory in front of 3,872 fans in the American Bank Center. After no scoring in the first, the Wildcats got on the board in the second period off of a big scrum in front of goaltender Hayden Stewart. After two chances were denied, Ben Kucera picked up the loose puck and first it by Stewart for a 1-0 lead at 5:12 of the middle period. Assists were given to Matt Robinson and Sami Salminen. With under a minute to go Wichita Falls went up 2-0 after Eliot Grauer took a pass through the neutral zone and let a quick snap shot go that found a way through Hayden Stewart with just 40 seconds left in the second period. The IceRays almost split the lead in half with one second left in the period as Luke McDiarmid wired a wrist shot off the pipe as time came to a close. In the third Caleb O’Brien split the Wildcat lead in half 2-1 for Corpus Christi on a shot from the point and found a way through a mass of players and Evan Cowley at 7:13 with assists from Brandon Smith and Rudy Sulmonte. Corpus Christi piled 14 shots on net in the third period however could not tie the game with the net empty as Wichita Falls picked up the 2-1 road win and pulled within 1pt of the IceRays for the final playoff spot in the South Division. Hayden Stewart stopped 30 of 32 shots in the loss.
GAME #52 – 3-9-13: Corpus Christi 5-4 (SO) Wichita Falls – Corpus Christi erased a two goal deficit in the third period and Ben Myers stopped 42 shots as the IceRays completed a comeback win over the Wichita Falls Wildcats with a shootout 5-4 on Saturday night in front of 4,453 fans inside the American Bank Center. Wichita Falls capitalized on a lucky bounce to take a 1-0 lead as the puck deflected off the side of the net that right to an awaiting Eliot Grauer who put the Wildcats up 1-0 just 1:29 into the game with his 21st goal of the year. The IceRays tied the game as Rudy Sulmonte buried his 22nd goal of the year assisted by Ryan Chiasson and Brandon Smith at 5:25 of the opening period. The IceRays couldn’t bury the puck on a scramble in front of Wildcat goalie Evan Cowley so Chris Knudson picked up the loose puck and took it down ice finding a hole in Ben Myers to put the Cats’ up 2-1, unassisted at 7:05 of the first. After no scoring in the second period, Sami Salminen put the Cats’ up two goals off of a wrister on the power-play just 20 seconds into the final stanza making it 3-1. Brandon Smith started the comeback at 10:17 of the third with a short-handed unassisted goal knocking the puck out of the air and going on a breakaway beating Evan Cowley top shelf pulling the IceRays within a goal 3-2. Corpus Christi tied the game 3-3 at 12:55 of the third after Beau Walker missed an opportunity the puck went to Eric Purcell who beat a diving Cowley for his 12th of the year. The IceRays kept the pressure on and with five minutes to go in the game took their first lead of the weekend 4-3. Joe Ginley fired the puck from behind the net banking it off the back of Evan Cowley and into the net assisted by Walker and Andrew Paras. Wichita Falls did not give up and tied the game with just 58 seconds left in regulation off the stick of Ben Kucera forcing overtime and eventually a shootout. In the shootout both Eric Purcell and Brandon Smith went upstairs on Evan Cowley while Emil Romig picked up the winner in round four and Corpus Christi earned the extra point. The IceRays now lead by two points over Wichita Falls with eight games remaining and Ben Myers stopped 42 shots in the win.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:
Saturday, March 16th 12:00PM – 2:00PM
USO STREET HOCKEY CHALLENGE – Presented by CPL Retail Energy & the Corpus Christi IceRays
GET FREE TICKET – Bring THREE dry goods items to the event and get a FREE ticket to the March 29th game!
Saturday, March 23rd vs. Amarillo Bulls @ 7:05PM
FAITH & FAMILY NIGHT – presented by 91.1FM KSGR.
CALLER TIMES 4-PACK NIGHT – 4 TIX, 4 HOTDOGS, 4 SODAS FOR $44
Sunday, March 24th vs. Amarillo Bulls @ 3:05PM
SUNDAY FUNDAY – HALF OFF BEER & SODA
AROUND THE SOUTH DIVISION:
|
TEAM |
GP |
W |
L |
OTL |
PTS |
PCT |
GF |
GA |
PIM |
HOME |
AWAY |
|
yAmarillo |
54 |
40 |
7 |
7 |
87 |
.806 |
218 |
106 |
1138 |
22-2-4 |
18-5-3 |
|
xTopeka |
53 |
33 |
14 |
6 |
72 |
.679 |
161 |
130 |
1251 |
14-9-4 |
19-5-2 |
|
xTexas |
53 |
34 |
18 |
1 |
69 |
.651 |
199 |
143 |
990 |
15-10-1 |
19-8-0 |
|
Corpus Christi |
52 |
23 |
23 |
6 |
52 |
.500 |
156 |
172 |
1229 |
11-14-1 |
12-9-5 |
|
Wichita Falls |
53 |
23 |
26 |
4 |
50 |
.472 |
164 |
182 |
812 |
11-13-2 |
12-13-2 |
|
Odessa |
51 |
6 |
42 |
3 |
15 |
.147 |
104 |
255 |
1052 |
2-21-2 |
4-21-1 |
CORPUS CHRISTI’S RECORD AGAINST OPPONENTS:
AMARILLO: 5-5-0
TEXAS: 1-7-0
TOPEKA: 1-3-0
WICHITA FALLS: 2-3-3
ODESSA: 7-1-0
FAIRBANKS: 1-1-2
KENAI RIVER: 4-0-0
ICERAYS LEADERS:
GOALS: Rudy Sulmonte – 22
ASSISTS: Emil Romig – 30
POINTS: Rudy Sulmonte – 51
PLUS/MINUS: Andrew Paras – +7
PENALTY MINUTES: Mike Economos – 122min
SHOTS: Rudy Sulmonte – 170
WINS: Ben Myers – 11
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Ben Myers – 2.93
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Ben Myers – .913
DISASTER AVOIDED… The IceRays avoided going down by a point in the standings with three goals in the final period to split the weekend and move to a two point lead over Wichita Falls.
GET YOUR FREE ICERAYS TICKETS… Help CPL Retail Energy and the IceRays by bringing THREE dry goods items to the March 23rd and 24th games and receive a FREE IceRays ticket to the March 29th game vs. Odessa.
PLAYOFF RACE… Corpus Christi is now just 2pts in front of Wichita Falls after a split with the Wildcats.
INJURY UPDATE… Perry D’Arrisso and Trevor Heuser sat out this past weekend’s games with injuries.
COMMITMENTS
2013-2014
– Beau Walker – (D3) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
– Dmitry Ermakov – (D3) Norwich University
– Mike Economos – (D3) Plymouth State University
– Ian McGilvrey – (D3) Plymouth State University
– Zachary Lindsay – (D3) UMass-Boston
2014-2015
– Matthew Weis – (D1) Ohio State University
ALUMNI REPORT
NCAA D-I…
– Michael Benedict (Niagara University) – (6G, 3A) – 30GP
– Frank Misuraca (U. of Alabama-Huntsville) – (2g, 4a) – 20GP
– Pheonix Copley (Michigan Tech) – (7-14-1, 3.19GAA, .899%) – 22GP
– Mychal Monteith (Mercyhurst) – (0g, 2a) – 20GP
– Colton Saucerman (Northeastern) – (3g, 8a) – 31GP
NCAA D-III…
– Greg Chapman (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 1a) – 19GP
– Luc Neitenbach (Worcester State) – (0g, 0a) – 15GP
– Jake Diamond (Wentworth College) – (0g, 0a) – 8GP
– Kevin Crowe (Wentworth College) – (10g, 11a) – 27GP
– Derrek Schartz (Tufts University) – (2g, 1a) – 16GP
– Josh Obregon (Johnson & Wales U.) – (12g, 11a) – 27GP
– Anton Olsson (Lawrence College) – (0-1, 6.00GAA, .838%)
– Navarone Copley (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 0a) – 9GP
– Jonathan Sdao (Colby College) – (4g, 4a) – 23GP
USHL…
– Matthew Weis (Green Bay Gamblers) – (10g, 20a) – 46GP
– Danny Fetzer (Chicago Steel) – (5g, 6a) – 41GP
– Roman Uchyn (Des Moines) – (4g, 6a) – 26GP
OHL…
– Anthony Stolarz (London) – (11-3-2, 2.38GAA, .918%) – 18GP
QMJHL…
– Phil Pietroniro (Shawinigan) – (6g, 5a) – 39GP
WHAT’S ON TAP… The IceRays are on the road this weekend against the Texas Tornado. Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to ALL IceRays away games on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com. Be sure to get your tickets now by calling the IceRays front office at 361.814.PUCK (7825) or crash the net at www.goicerays.com.
FOLLOW US… Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.goicerays.com. In addition stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/corpuschristiicerays), Twitter (@goicerays), and the team’s Youtube channel ICERAYS TV (@goicerays)
“THE NEW ICERAYS…TOMORROW’S STARS”
