Corpus Christi, Texas – Momentum can be a funny thing, sometimes to the point where it’s not so funny.
Fresh off a road trip at the Amarillo Wranglers where they earned three points last weekend in Amarillo, the Corpus Christi IceRays felt good about themselves and the the momentum heading into a two-game series against the defending NAHL champion Oklahoma Warriors.
After jumping out to an early lead, the momentum appeared to be even stronger.
But all of a sudden, the momentum quickly disappeared as Oklahoma scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 victory over the IceRays Friday at the American Bank Center.
Ryan Hintz scored for the IceRays (3-4-0, 1SOL).
Owen Carlile, Jaxon Grosdidier and William Ahlrik scored second period goals for Oklahoma (6-3), while Drew Sutton added a pair of goals in the third period.
Hintz gave Corpus Christi the lead with his first goal of the season on the power play off assists from Zakhar Polshakov and Billy Biedermann, his fourth of the season.
The IceRays took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after one period.
But Oklahoma scored three goals in less than two minutes in the second period to turn the momentum to their side.
Carlile tied the game at 1-1 at 4:33 with his second goal of the year.
Grosdidier got his first goal of the season at 5:45 and Ahlrik collected his first goal at 6:28 on the power play and the Warriors led 3-1 after two periods.
“We had a good first period, but they took over the game in the second and controlled it,” IceRays head coach Sylvain Cloutier said.
Sutton scored his third goal of the year at 8:12 of the third period and added his fourth with the man advantage at 12:04 to put the game away.
“No excuses for us to have that kind of effort,” Cloutier said.
The two teams will face off again Saturday night at 7:05 at the American Bank Center.
“We have to regroup quickly and get ready for tomorrow,” Cloutier said.
You can watch the game on NAHLTV.com and catch it on Brewster Street Radio.
