WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS – The Corpus Christi IceRays (14-15-3) couldn’t keep up with the Wichita Falls Wildcats (26-5-3) in the second period, falling 6-2 on Friday night at the Kay Yeager Coliseum. The IceRays end their winning streak at five games, which ranks second in junior franchise history.
Much of the first period took place stringing through the neutral zones, but the Wildcats had three power plays to turn movement forward. Though being blocked out of a shot in their first attempt, the home side found an opening in their second chance when forward Aleksi Poikola fed forward Adam Goodsir in the mid-slot to place the opening goal at 15:48 to move ahead 1-0. The IceRays were held to two shots for the second-consecutive opening period.
The IceRays took advantage of early turnovers to take back control of the game in the second period. IceRays forward Carter Johnson created a turnover and found forward Drake Lindsay for an open re-direction at 1:05 to tie the game, 1-1. Just a few minutes later at 5:21, the IceRays won a faceoff draw and forward Brendan Miller slotted the rebound over the netminder to take the 2-1 lead. The Wildcats came back with four-unanswered throughout the second period. Forward Jonathan Lazarus baited out the IceRays netminder at 6:57 for a wrap around the goalie to tie the game, 2-2. Less than two minutes later at 8:53, defenseman Domantas Cypas found an open pass and slotted a shot through a screen from the right circle to give the Wildcats a 3-2. Wildcats forward Adam Goodsir claimed his second with an open feed into the slot at 12:26 to double the lead, 4-2. Just over one minute later at 13:39, defenseman Matt Hines found a fortunate bounce off his body and slid underneath a few bodies to triple the lead, 5-2, and spell the end of the night for netminder Graham Hunt, who was replaced by Dryden McKay.
The Wildcats were shut down for the rest of the second period but would not be silenced for the rest of the contest. At 5:38 of the third period, forward Nick Rosa was given credit for a backdoor play to beat by McKay who was already ranging out to make it a 6-2 lead, and that’s where the final score would rest. Wildcats goaltender Justin Kapelmaster (19-3-1) earns the win, stopping 18 of 19 shots. Hunt (9-9-2) is credited with the loss, stopping 19 of 24 shots in 33:37 minutes, while McKay turns aside 19 of 20 shots in 26:16 minutes of relief. The IceRays play their fourth-straight road game on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m. to close out their weekend set against the Wichita Falls Wildcats from the Kay Yeager Coliseum. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on SportsRadio Corpus Christi (KSIX 1230AM) and FASTHockey.
The IceRays return to the American Bank Center on Thursday, Jan. 21 for the first of two games against the Topeka RoadRunners. Contact the IceRays Front Office at 361-814-PUCK or go to www.goicerays.com for details on season tickets along with pricing and seating. In addition, stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/CorpusChristiIceRays), Twitter (@goicerays), YouTube (IceRays TV), Instagram (CorpusChristiIceRays), Vine (@goicerays), and Periscope (@goicerays).
