CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—The Corpus Christi Ice Rays secured their first series sweep of the 2018-19 NAHL season with a 5-2 win against the Kenai River Brown Bears on Saturday at the American Bank Center. The IceRays (6-7-1, 13 points), are tied for fifth in the Southern division with the win, while the Brown Bears (8-7-0-1, 17 points), are tied for third in the Midwest division.
The IceRays struck for three goals in the opening period, ultimately chasing Brown Bears goaltender Dennis Westergard.
The IceRays opened the scoring on Ryan Willett first goal as an IceRay at the 12:13 mark, on assists from Santeri Hartikainen and Camron Cervone. Jake Stella’s third goal of the season, and a goal from Nick Seitz, in his first game with the IceRays put Corpus Christi on top 3-0 after 20 minutes.
The Brown Bears struck for their lone set of goals in the second period, one from each Michael Spethmann and Andy Walker represented the scoring output for Kenai.
The IceRays scored their fourth goal of the game in the second period on a Blake Bennett power-play goal, one of three for Corpus Christi in the win.
The IceRays added their fifth goal of the game on an empty-netter scored by Aleksi Peltonen with 17 seconds remaining in the game, sealing the sweep of the Brown Bears.
IceRays goaltender Akira Schmid earned his second win with the IceRays in his second start with the black and red. The 18-year-old from Bern, Switzerland faced 39 shots and made 37 saves in the win.
Up next:
The IceRays return to action at American Bank Center on Nov. 9 in game one of a three-game series against the Amarillo Bulls. The IceRays conclude their season long 13-game homestand against the Lone Star Brahmas on Nov. 17th before hitting the road against the Odessa Jackalopes on Nov. 21.
Single game tickets, season seat memberships, group tickets and suites for the 2018-19 IceRays season are now on sale. Visit goicerays.com or call 361-814-PUCK for tickets or more information.
