WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS – The Corpus Christi IceRays ended their goal scoring skid against the host Wichita Falls Wildcats forcing overtime with 8:40 left in regulation, however, fell in a shootout on Wednesday night 4-2 inside the Kay Yeager Coliseum.
Like the game before, the scoring started early and the Wildcats took the lead 2:41 into the game off a nice shot by Conor O’Neil from the bottom of the left wing circle as he snuck a shot over the shoulder of Hayden Stewart for a 1-0 lead.
The IceRays responded at 11:20 courtesy of Grant Hutton’s first NAHL goal. Hutton waited in front of the crease when a centering pass went right off his blade and into the net pulling the game even.
Brandon Smith put the IceRays ahead with just 1:49 left in the first period. A shot by Charles Baldwin went off the right leg pad of Evan Cowley and onto the stick of the awaiting Smith, who tapped in the go ahead goal as Corpus Christi led 2-1 after the first period.
In the second frame, the Wildcats mounted a comeback. After an IceRays goal was called off by the official, Sami Salminen and Eliot Grauer went in on an two-on-one rush. Salminen slid the puck to Grauer who tied the game at two goals apiece just 1:25 into the period.
A wrestling match between Jalen Schulz and Ben Kucera somehow ended up in a Wildcat power-play. Will Vosejpka converted on the man advantage to put Wichita Falls in the lead 3-2 after 40min of play.
With time winding down in the third period, a shot from the point deflected off of Beau Walker and into the net with 8:40 left in the game. After 60min both side were tied and overtime was next.
Corpus Christi could not convert on a carryover power-play from regulation into overtime and after nothing was decided in extra time, a shootout followed.
In the shootout, the lone goal was picked up by Eliot Grauer as the IceRays were unable to record a shootout goal and the Wildcats earned the extra point in the 4-3 win.
Hayden Stewart was solid in net stopping 40 of 43 shots he faced.
The IceRays remain on the road this weekend as they take on the Amarillo Bulls. Puck drops at 7:00PM, coverage begins at 6:45PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com.
Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.goicerays.com. In addition stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/corpuschristiicerays), Twitter (@goicerays), and the team’s Youtube channel ICERAYS TV (@goicerays)
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