CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Amarillo Bulls increased their lead atop the NAHL’s South Division with a 3-1 victory at the Corpus Christi IceRays Friday night at American Bank Center. Nick Trela, Logan Jenuwine and Brett Abdelnour scored for the Bulls (12-3-1-1, 26 pts.) while Ryan Willett scored the lone goal for Corpus Christi (6-8-1-0, 13 pts.).
Amarillo netminder Jason Grande stopped 32 of 33 shots faced.
The two teams will meet twice more this weekend in the Coastal Bend.
Trela opened the scoring at the 9:35 mark of the first period, receiving a pass down low from Jason Brancheau, moving the puck to his backhand and firing a shot past IceRays goaltender Sam Best’s glove side.
Trela then created a scoring opportunity for Jenuwine, who doubled the visitors’ lead at 16:02 with a shot from the bottom of the right-wing circle.
Willett got the IceRays on the board with his second goal in as many games. The Bayville, N.Y., native received a cross-ice pass and fired a glove-side shot from the back door at 8:06 of the second period. Assists were recorded by Anthony Firriolo and Nicholas Seitz.
The game remained a one-goal contest until the final minute of the third period when Abdelnour secured the two-goal win for the Bulls with an empty net goal.
Amarillo outshot Corpus Christi by a 35-33 margin. Neither team recorded a goal on special teams, including a perfect four-for-four on the penalty kill by the IceRays. The Bulls improved their point streak to five games while ending Corpus Christi’s three-game streak.
The two teams rematch Saturday night (7:05 PM) and Sunday afternoon (3:05 PM) at American Bank Center. Saturday is the IceRays’ 11th annual Stars & Stripes Night, presented by First Title Company, Whataburger, KIII-TV3, Mike Shaw Toyota, IBEW Local 278, the Renard Family, and Get Air. All members of the military–both past and present–can show their military ID at the American Bank Center Box Office to receive free entry to the game.
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.Stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays) and Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays).
