Corpus Christi, Texas –After being shut out Friday night, the Corpus Christi IceRays bounced back in an emphatic way, scoring early, bouncing back from a deficit finishing the deal in a 7-3 victory over the Colorado Grit Saturday at the Greeley Ice Haus in Greeley, Colorado.
Following a night where Colorado scored seven seconds into the contest, the IceRays got on the board early with two goals thirty seconds apart.
Then after relinquishing the lead in the second period, Corpus Christi scored two goals in a span of 2:33 to re-take the lead for good and earn a split in the two games in Greeley.
“It would’ve been nice to get four points, but we got two,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said. “It’s nice that they battled back tonight and fighting through everything we’re going through right now.”
Pierson Sobush was credited, according to the final scorebook,
with three goals and a hat trick.
“Sobush had a great game. Obviously, he came to play today,” Cloutier said. “He had a great game and overall, it was a great team win and we had a lot of guys that did a lot of great things.”
Billy Biedermann, Stepan Kuznetsov, Will Reardon and Ryan Hintz also netted goals for the IceRays.
Bowen Burke, Romulus Riego De Dios, and Nicholas Capasso each scored a goal for Colorado.
Sobush got the party started with his seventh goal of the season at 2:31 off an assist from Tyler Samodral.
“We knew our effort was the greatest last night an we came back strong tonight trying to bounce back,” Sobush said. “We needed the two points tonight as we’re lower in the standings, so our main goal is just to come on stronger and have a better start.”
Biedermann came right back with his fourth of the season from Sobush at 2:51 and the IceRays were off and running with a 2-0 lead.
But Colorado turned things around as Burke collected his seventh of the year at 11:34, and Riego De Rios got his seventh at 16:32 and the game was tied at 2-2 after one period.
“The quick start was great,” Cloutier said. “The thing we didn’t like was giving it back. You can’t do that. You’ve got to learn how to win and you have to keep going and can’t sit back.”
Capasso gave Colorado the lead on his sixth of the season five minutes into the second period.
The light switch went back on for the IceRays as Sobush was credited with his eighth goal from Kuznetsov and Biedermann at 6:04 of the second period, and Kuznetsov collected his eighth on an unassisted tally at 8:37.
Reardon netted his seventh at 18:33 from Kuznetsov and the IceRays were on top 5-3 after two periods.
Hintz got his second from Biedermann and Reardon at 4:21 of the third, and Sobush closed out the scoring on a goal from Kuznetsov at 13:22.
The IceRays are now 8-12-1, 2 SOL for 19 points and moved back into eighth place in the NAHL South Division ahead of Colorado.
The Grit are now 7-14-1, 2 SOL for 17 points.
The IceRays will host the Shreveport Mudbugs Friday and Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. CST, and Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. CST.
“We have a big weekend with three at home coming,” Sobush said. “Same game plan, just work your tail off and try to keep fighting back in the standings. Every game is a big one, and every point matters for us now.”
You can watch the games on NAHLTV.com and can also catch them on Brewster Street Radio.
For more info on the IceRays visit goicerays.com.
