CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Malo Ville tied the game late in the first and Kyle Froese picked up the eventual game winner on the power-play in the second period, and Ben Myers stopped all but one shot as the Corpus Christi IceRays defeated Rio Grande Valley 2-1 inside the American Bank Center on Thursday night.
Rio Grande Valley silenced the crowd as they got on the board first for an early 1-0 lead. Sean Mostrom moved up the ice and fed Rob Marsanico with a pass down the left wing wall. The Allendale, NJ native wristed the puck over the left shoulder of IceRays goaltender Ben Myers for his second goal of the season at 3:32 of the opening period. The lone assist was credited to Mostrom who made the original pass.
The IceRays answered back at time was running out in the first frame. Malo Ville took a pass from Wes Michaud and went to the front of the net untouched around the right leg pad of Killer Bees goaltender Olli Kalkaja wristing the puck into the net to tie the game up at a goal a piece with only 1:48 left in the opening period. The goal was Ville’s 6th of the year assisted by Michaud and Jason Lem.
In the second period while on the power-play, Jake Durflinger set up Kyle Froese with a great pass to give the ‘Rays a 2-1 lead. Durflinger worked the puck down low at the bottom of the left wing circle. At the same time, Kyle Froese pinched in from the right point while the pass came from Durflinger through the top of the crease and the captain snapped home his third goal of the year and eventual game winner at 8:04 of the middle period. Assists came from Durflinger and Connor Kelly.
Ben Myers was stellar between the pipes tonight denying 20 of 21 attempts on net.
The IceRays are on the road tomorrow as they head to Hidalgo, TX to battle the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees inside State Farm Arena. 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. Click LISTEN LIVE on the IceRays website for more information!
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)
