The IceRays traveled to Lone Star to face off against the Brahmas for the first of a two game set on Friday. Although the Rays found the scoreboard late in the contest, it was not enough as Lone Star skated away with a 5-2 victory.
Lone Star jumped on the IceRays early in the contest putting 22 shots on Stefan Carney in the first period on Friday. Carney and the Rays defense held up through the first seventeen minutes and change of the period, and the Rays found themselves on the man advantage late in the period. The man advantage for Corpus Christi had been good as of late, but on Friday night, the man advantage was a net negative on the night. Lone Star’s leading scorer, Nicholas Niemo scored shorthanded late in period one to put the Brahmas up at intermission.
The second period had the Rays with momentum at many times, but once again, Lone Star was able to get the only goal of the period. They took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Quickly following that second intermission, a third found its way into the back of the net to make it 3-0 early in the third.
The IceRays were finally able to strike to get back within two thanks to a goal stemming from the defensive zone. A chip up the wall and a deflection from Crolley gave IceRays captain Jude Kurtas the lane he needed to the net. He was able to get it past a Lone Star goaltender in Jack Spicer who was making his NAHL debut. The goal for Kurtas was his twelfth of the season, which puts him into a tie of second among active players on the Rays with Colby Seitz.
Lone Star earned the three goal lead back quickly after the Kurtas goal, as Corpus was sent to the penalty box 29 seconds following the goal. It took only four seconds into the man advantage for the Brahmas to score to bring the score to 4-1.
The IceRays found themselves on the kill once again just twenty seconds after the power play goal. This time, it was a goal shorthanded going the IceRays way. Nathan Butler unassisted is how the goal reads with the Rays finding themselves down by two once again. The goal for Butler brought him to five shorthanded goals on the season, which is second among all players in the league this season.
Lone Star found a cherry on top of their game to skate away with a 5-2 victory, which earns themselves at least a tie in the season series against the IceRays. The two sides are scheduled to do battle once again on Saturday night with puck drop scheduled for 7:45 pm.
