HIDALGO, TX – Joey Palumbo scored his first goal with the IceRays and Brad LeLievre added to his total on Friday night but it wasn’t enough as the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees outlasted the Corpus Christi IceRays with a 3-2 win at State Farm Arena to even the South Texas V-Tech Cup series at 3-3.
The IceRays got out to the early lead courtesy of Joey Palumbo who picked up his first goal since joining the IceRays. Connor Kelly moved the puck down the ice and fired a shot on net that Olli Kalkaja stopped the original shot but both teams came together at the front of the net to try and get the rebound. Palumbo got the final stick on it and punched it behind Kalkaja to give the ‘Rays a 1-0 lead just 2:20 into the game.
The lead for Corpus Christi didn’t last long as the Killer Bees came right back to tie the game up. While on the man advantage Brenden Dunning scored his first goal with the Killer Bees to even the game up at 1-1 with a rebound goal. The assists were picked up by Dan Kucerovy and Joe Llaurado.
Another rebound goal in the second period gave Rio Grande Valley their first lead of the evening. Luke Bafia fired a shot on net that was stopped by goaltender Ben Myers however the rebound went right to an awaiting Dan Kucerovy for his first with the Killer Bees to give his squad a 2-1 advantage at 15:08 of the opening period. Assists were given to Luke Bafia and Brenden Dunning who had a factor in both goals during the first stanza.
In the second period, both goaltenders denied all the shots they faced as only 11 total combined shots were put on net as the score remained 2-1 in favor of Rio Grande Valley after 40min if action.
In the third period the Killer Bees moved out to a two goal lead as Jared Dedenbach crashed the net after a Sean Mostrom shot on net. The puck settled right on the goal line and Dedenbach got his blade on it to tap in his fifth goal with Rio Grande Valley to move the Killer Bees out to a 3-1 lead over Corpus Christi with 15:50 left in the game. The two assists were given to Sean Mostrom and Dylan Abood.
Shortly after that Corpus Christi responded to pull within a goal once again. A great play by Travis Maxwell and Jake Durflinger finished with Brad LeLievre burying home his sixth goal with the IceRays and ninth overall on the season with 15:18 left in the game, just 32 seconds after Rio Grande Valley took a two goal lead. Maxwell and Durflinger had assists on the LeLievre strike.
Late in the game Corpus Christi pulled Ben Myers to get an extra attacker however the Killer Bees withstood the pressure and held on for a 3-2 win.
The IceRays finish out their series in the valley tomorrow night as they take on the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. Puck drops at 7:05PM, coverage begins at 6:50PM 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)
