RAYS’ REPORT #14: RAYS’ SWEEP AT HOME, WELCOME IN TEXAS

Jan 7, 2013

The Corpus Christi IceRays hosted the Odessa Jackalopes for the first time all season and took all four possible points against the Jacks’ with consecutive wins 6-4 on Friday and 5-4 on Saturday night increasing the lead over 5th place Wichita Falls to 11pts for the final playoff spot in the South Division with 26 games remaining in the regular season.

GAME #33 – 1-4-13: Corpus Christi 6-4 Odessa –  The scoring began at 6:11 of the first period when Eric Purcell picked the pocket of Lawrence Cornellier and walked in all alone beating Nick Deery for a 1-0 lead.  The goal was unassisted.  Perry D’Arrisso then picked up his first of two on the night on the power-play with assists credited to John Roisum and Emil Romig at 7:30 of the first.  In the second period, D’Arrisso struck again, just 1:31 in when Wayland Williams took a shot that deflected off of D’Arrisso and into the net giving the IceRays a 3-0 lead.  Anthony Olguin gave Odessa life at the 12:29 mark picking up a rebound and swinging it through Ben Myers while on the power-play to pull the Jackalopes within two goals.  The goal didn’t stand long when Beau Walker crisscrossed with Joe Ginley.  Walker then dropped the puck and Ginley fired it past Deery at 13:25 of the second period.  Phil Heinle then replaced Deery in net for the Jackalopes.  To start the final period, Mike Mezzano scored his only goal of the game with the lone assist going to Austin Ho just 51 seconds into the third to once again split the IceRays lead in half 4-2.  Just 28 seconds later, Rudy Sulmonte regained the three goal lead on a jam in front of the net.  Sulmonte didn’t give up on the loose puck and picked up his 16th of the year as Corpus Christi took a 5-2 lead.  Then John Feemster tried to outlet a pass and fired it off the skates of his own goaltender Phil Heinle and into the net.  The goal was credited to John Roisum, his first NAHL goal at the 2:05 mark of the third and Corpus Christi led 6-2.  The Jackalopes would tack on goals by Matt Volonnino and another by Anthony Olguin in the third as they fell 6-4.  Ben Myers stopped 27 of 31 in the win.

GAME #34 – 1-5-13: Corpus Christi 5-4 Odessa AJ Jarosz kick-started the scoring for Corpus Christi just 3:49 into the game off an interception.  Beau Walker hit Jarosz with a pass who then wristed it through the legs of goaltender Phil Heinle to take a 1-0 lead.  The IceRays moved out to a 2-0 lead when Caleb O’Brien picked up his first tally as an IceRays defender while on the power-play at 14:15 of the first.  Assists were credited to Perry D’Arrisso and Walker.  In the second, the Jacks’ split their deficit in half off the stick of Anthony Olguin just 2:12 into the period while on the mad advantage.  The goal didn’t stick long when Mike Economos right off a face-off scooped up the draw by AJ Jarosz and wired it behind Heinle just 34 seconds later to regain the two goal lead.  Matt Volonnino kept Odessa in the game as they wouldn’t go away.  On a two-on-one rush, Mike Mezzano fed Volonnino with a pass and the forward fired it into the net at 12:33 decreasing the IceRays lead to 3-2.  Under six minutes later, Wayland Williams scored his first as an IceRay with an excellent shot from the right wing circle, going top shelf on Heinle to take a 4-2 lead.  Beau Walker then tallied a power-play goal, his first since returning from Sacred Heart, at 19:37 of the second to put the IceRays up 5-2 after 40min of play.   In the final period, Lawrence Cornellier picked up a power-play strike of his own at 13:51 to make it just a two goal lead for the IceRays.  Odessa would run out of time in the end after Jimmy Peplinski made it a one goal lead with just over three seconds left in the game and the final score would be 5-4.  Hayden Stewart put aside 19 of 23 shots in the win.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Friday, January 11th @ 7:05PM vs. Texas Tornado
Frosty Friday – Half off 20oz domestic beer & 24oz soda!

Saturday, January 12th @ 7:05PM vs. Texas Tornado
Caller Times 4-pack Night – 4 tickets, 4 hotdogs, 4 soda’s for $44
Teen Night – Presented by WHATABURGER

AROUND THE SOUTH DIVISION

TEAM

GP

W

L

OTL

PTS

PCT

GF

GA

PIM

HOME

AWAY

Amarillo

34

26

4

4

56

.824

143

71

642

14-1-1

12-3-3

Texas

37

26

10

1

53

.716

142

95

748

13-6-1

13-4-0

Topeka

35

21

9

5

47

.671

107

79

794

10-6-3

11-3-2

Corpus Christi

34

15

14

5

35

.515

108

121

837

7-10-1

8-4-4

Wichita Falls

32

11

19

2

24

.375

88

118

534

5-8-1

6-11-1

Odessa

34

5

27

2

12

.176

66

156

654

1-14-1

4-13-1

CORPUS CHRISTI’S RECORD AGAINST OPPONENTS:

AMARILLO: 2-2-0
TEXAS: 1-7-0

TOPEKA: 0-2-0
WICHITA FALLS: 1-1-2
ODESSA: 4-0-0
FAIRBANKS: 1-1-2
KENAI RIVER: 4-0-0

ICERAYS LEADERS:

GOALS: Perry D’Arrisso – 17
ASSISTS: Perry D’Arrisso – 21
POINTS: Perry D’Arrisso – 38
PLUS/MINUS: Jalen Schulz, Wayland Williams, Grant Hutton – +5
PENALTY MINUTES: Mike Economos – 92min
SHOTS: Rudy Sulmonte – 116
WINS: Hayden Stewart – 7
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Ben Myers – 3.18
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Hayden Stewart – .907

FIVE POINT NIGHT… Beau Walker had a huge impact on Saturday’s outcome picking up a point on every goal scored by the IceRays in the 5-4 win over Odessa.  Walker tallied one goal and four assists. 

2ND STAR… Beau Walker also was selected as they South Division 2nd star of the week by the North American Hockey League.

PLAYOFF RACE… Corpus Christi is now 11pts in front of Wichita Falls after this past weekend and remains in 4th place with 35pts. 

STOLARZ TO THE OHL…Former IceRays goaltender and 2nd round NHL draft pick Anthony Stolarz has opted to leave the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. 

COMMITMENTS

2013-2014
Beau Walker – (D3) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Dmitry Ermakov – (D3) Norwich University

2014-2015
Matthew Weis – (D1) Ohio State University

ALUMNI REPORT

NCAA D-I…
           – Michael Benedict (Niagara University) – (6G, 1A) – 17GP
           – Frank Misuraca (U. of Alabama-Huntsville) – (2g, 4a) – 16GP
           – Pheonix Copley (Michigan Tech) – (3-6-0, 3.30GAA, .892%)
           – Mychal Monteith (Mercyhurst) – (0g, 2a) – 13GP
           – Colton Saucerman (Northeastern) – (1g, 4a) – 14GP

NCAA D-III…
           – Greg Chapman (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 0a) – 10GP
           – Luc Neitenbach (Worcester State) – (0g, 0a) – 6GP
            – Kevin Crowe (Wentworth College) – (5g, 3a) – 14GP
            – Derrek Schartz (Tufts University) – (1g, 1a) – 7GP
           – Josh Obregon (Johnson & Wales U.) – (3g, 8a) – 14GP
           – Anton Olsson (Lawrence College) – (0-1, 6.00GAA, .838%)
           – Navarone Copley (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 0a) – 9GP
           – Jonathan Sdao (Colby College) – (3g, 4a) – 12GP

USHL…
           Matthew Weis (Green Bay Gamblers) – (7g, 13a) – 27GP
            Danny Fetzer (Chicago Steel) – (2g, 5a) – 24GP
           – Travis Maxwell (Lincoln) – (1g, 4a) – 14GP
           Roman Uchyn (Des Moines) – (3g, 2a) – 10GP

OHL…
           Anthony Stolarz (London) – (0-0, 0.00GAA, .000%)

QMJHL…
           Phil Pietroniro (Shawinigan) – (3g, 4a) – 22GP

WHAT’S ON TAP…  The IceRays return home this weekend as they host the Texas Tornado at 7:05PM on Friday and Saturday night.  Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to ALL IceRays home games on ustream.com, sportsjuice.com, the TuneIn Radio APP, or on the league’s pay-per-view website, www.fasthockey.com.  Be sure to get your tickets now by calling the IceRays front office at 361.814.PUCK (7825) or crash the net at www.goicerays.com.

FOLLOW US…  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)

“THE NEW ICERAYS…TOMORROW’S STARS”