IceRays Fall to Lone Star in Final Game

Apr 18, 2022

After falling on Friday night by a score of 5-2, the IceRays looked to end the season on a positive note Saturday.  Five unanswered early on Saturday became the dagger to Corpus Christi’s chances, as the Rays fell 7-3 on Saturday night.

Lone Star got out to a hot start on Saturday, as with a win, the Brahmas would clinch the league title on Saturday night thanks to a loss by New Jersey earlier in the evening.  Lone Star started out hot getting a goal within the first two and a half minutes of the contest.  This put the Rays in a tough spot chasing early on.  Taking away the early goal, the compete level was there for Corpus Christi in the first period.  A one-goal deficit, although not ideal, still would’ve been manageable, but the Rays had a costly turnover that Lone Star buried with two seconds left in the period to make it a 2-0 game at intermission.

Momentum coming off of goals scored in the last minute of periods can typically be felt throughout intermission and early on into the next, which seemed to be the case with the Brahmas goal late in the first.  Lone Star hit the ice in the second finding the back of the net just two minutes into the period to extend the lead to three.  Before Corpus Christi could blink, Lone Star tallied two more goals and had a lead of 5-0.

Late in the second, the Rays were able to find the scoreboard for the first time thanks to the stick of Michael Casey.  This capped off an excellent two and a half month span for the Media, Pennsylvania native as he finishes the last 19 games of the season with 20 points.  The Casey goal was assisted by Zdenak Dobes and Charlie Killian.  For Dobes, the goal became his first ever NAHL point.

In the third, Lone Star earned their five goal lead back half way through the third period.  That lead did not hold up for long as Butler struck for Corpus on his 19th of the season.  The goal was scored on the rush with the primary assist going to Charlie Merkley.  Those two felt some connection on the ice because they scored with goal scorer and passer swapped just 23 seconds later to bring the Rays within three.

Lone Star added one more to make the score 7-3, which became the final score late in the contest.  This concludes the IceRays season with the team finishing with a record of 25-32-2-1.