The IceRays faced off against the Bismarck Bobcats in search of win number one on Friday night in Blaine. This comes after two losses on Wednesday and Thursday against Maryland and Minot respectively.
In the first period, Corpus Christi jumped off to a hot start. That hot start led to the first lead of the season for the IceRays as Cam Crolley slammed home a rebound off of an Albin Persson shot from short range.
In the second, the good times continued with a short handed goal starting things off from Nathan Butler off a rebound from a John Musella shot. With under ten seconds left in the period, Dom Foglia fired a shot onto the Bismarck net when the rebound sat their for Konner Lundeen to bury.
Lundeen, was cut last week from the IceRays and drove himself to Blaine to see his brother play in the NAPHL Showcase going on concurrently with the NAHL Showcase. He had other motivation as well because he wanted to be given an opportunity. Lundeen got the opportunity and took advantage of such. IceRays head coach Mike Lysyj said, “I believe in second chances, and Lundeen took his. We got our second chance with ours as well.”
In the third, Bismarck would strike twice in the first ten minutes to put the Bobcats in a great position for a comeback. The game would go down until the final minutes, and just when Bismarck felt comfortable to pull the goaltender, the IceRays would go down on a three on one rush. Jude Kurtas would find the back of the net and put a bow on win number one of the season.
This win would be the first for the team this season and the first for the head coach Mike Lysyj in the league. Lysyj said, “Obviously, it’s nice to get the first one under our belt, but hopefully there is a lot more coming.”
Win number one means two points for Corpus Christi, and it gives the IceRays a chance to move to 2-2 on Saturday afternoon. Puck drop is scheduled for 1 pm against the 2021 league runner ups Aberdeen Wings.
