NORTH RICHLAND HILLS, TX – The Corpus Christi IceRays fall short in game two by a final score of 3-2 at the Nytex Sports Centre on Saturday night as the Lone Star Brahmas take a 2-0 series lead. The IceRays are now on the brink of elimination as the series switches to El Paso for game three next week.
After failing to find the back of the net in game one the IceRays wasted no time opening the scoring in game two just 29 seconds in off the stick of Michael Valdez for their first lead of the series. Valdez picked up his third goal of the postseason and Matthew Green tallied his fourth assist of the postseason on the IceRays first goal of the South Division Final. Lone Star made a hard push in the final 10 minutes of the frame and IceRays Goalie Benji Motew was sharp and turned all 11 shots aside. Corpus Christi failed to convert on their two power plays of the period in hopes of extending the lead but managed to survive their first penalty kill of the night. After 20 minutes the IceRays held on to 1-0 lead at intermission.
Lone Star carried their momentum from the end of the 1st period and struck twice within a span of 24 seconds to take a 2-1 lead inside the opening two minutes of the frame. Cooper Faughnan scored the opening goal for the Brahmas after a pass from Maddox Tulacro rattled off his sake and past Motew. The Brahmas followed up with a wrist shot from Tulacro that beat Motew on the near side to flip the score on its head. After most of the period was spent in the IceRays zone Corpus Christi started to push back. Off an offensive zone face off Caden Morgan sent a shot towards the goal that deflected off a stick and sat in the slot until Pierson Sobush jammed it through the five-hole of Cameron to tie the game with just over a minute remaining in the 2nd period. That score would hold heading into the final period of regulation.
Early in the period Corpus Christi survived another penalty kill but seconds after the IceRays were back to full strength Elias Kumlin made a move to the slot and fired a shot into the net to give the Brahmas a 3-2 lead. In search of another equalizer the IceRays threw anything and everything towards Cameron and produced a great chance late but could not find the back of the net. Motew was pulled for the extra attacker for extra support but they had nothing to solve Cameron once more and the Brahmas held on for a 3-2 win.
