Corpus Christi, Texas – Fresh off a bounce-back victory on the road, the Corpus Christi IceRays head into the Thanksgiving holiday seeking to keep the momentum going.
The IceRays will face off against the Lone Star Brahmas Wednesday night at the NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills at 7:05 CST.
Corpus Christi battled and eventually took a 3-2 victory over the Oklahoma Warriors November 18 at the American Bank Center.
Anthony Cafarelli scored in the final minute to earn the IceRays their second split against the Warriors in as many weeks and their first win in Oklahoma.
The IceRays are 7-11-1, 1 SOL for 16 points and in eighth place in the NAHL South Division.
Lone Star is leading the South Division at 16-6-0, 2 SOL for 34 points, five points in front of the New Mexico Ice Wolves.
“It’s a big game against Lone Star,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said. “They’re in first place and I thought we played them well in the first game at home and then the next night, we all know what happened.”
The Rays fell to Lone Star 5-3 on October 27. It was a game where Corpus Christi scored a pair of third-period goals to pull within a goal before Justin Kerr netted an empty-netter.
The next night, Lone Star won 6-0 and used a huge power-play advantage. The Brahmas were 4-for-16 with the man-advantage, while the IceRays were 0-3.
Anthony Cafarelli leads the IceRays with 11 goals and has added eight assists for 19 points.
Mathieu Bourgault has posted 17 points (three goals and 14 assists).
Pierson Sobush has collected 15 points on six goals and nine assists.
Brock James leads Lone Star with 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.
Kerr has collected eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points and Ivan Zadvernyuk has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists).
“We know we can play with them,” Cloutier said. “We just need to make sure we go up there and compete with them, play sound defense like we did on Saturday against Oklahoma, and hopefully we can build off that win.”
Bourgault, Marks earn NAHL South Star of the Week Honorable Mention.
IceRays forward Mathiew Bourgault and goaltender Bryant Marks were selected as NAHL South Star of the Week Honorable Mention after the weekend series at Oklahoma.
Bourgault posted one of the assists on Zakhar Polshakov’s goal in a 7-1 loss November 17 at Oklahoma.
He scored his third goal of the year in the first period and earned one of the assists on Cafarelli’s game-winning goal in the IceRays dramatic 3-2 victory.
Marks stopped 40 of 42 shots faces in the 3-2 victory over Oklahoma on the road November 18 to earn his first win since a road win at New Mexico October 21.
Following Thanksgiving Day, the IceRays will play a pair against the Colorado Grit Friday night at 8:15 CST and Saturday afternoon at 4:45 CST.
You can watch all three games this week on NAHLTV.com and can also catch them on Brewster Street Radio.
For more info on the IceRays visit goicerays.com.
