EL PASO, TX – The Corpus Christi IceRays season came to a close on Thursday night falling to the Lone Star Brahmas in three games capped off by a 5-0 shutout of the IceRays at the El Paso County Coliseum.
In the opening two minutes Brahmas Forward Charlie Masek was taken down from behind on a breakaway sending him to center ice for a penalty shot with a chance to open the scoring. Masek failed to score on his attempt trying to stick handle around IceRays Goalie Benji Motew and lost possession making foran easy pad save. That would not slow down the Brahmas who scored three times in the frame to jump out to an early advantage. Emerson Marshall and Kristo Pitkanan scored within a span of 24 seconds on deflections to open the scoring in game three. The Brahmas would add to their lead on a short handed goal from Saxton Tess who made a pass that deflected off an IceRays skate and past Motew to cap off the frame.
The IceRays got their best looks of the game on the power play but failed to convert as Brahmas Goalie Ryan Cameron made multiple goal line stands. Through two periods the IceRays went 0-for-6 on the man-advantage keeping them off the scoreboard after forty minutes. The Brahmas added two more goals in the middle frame from Cooper Faughnan and Christian Venticinque to make it 5-0 at the second intermission.
Corpus Christi continued to push in the final period but failed to solve Ryan Cameron who made 22 saves en route to his second shutout of the series. Lone Star advanced to their second straight Robertson Cup with a 5-0 shutout to complete the sweep of the IceRays in the South Division Finals.
