RAYS’ REPORT #15: ICERAYS SPLIT IN AMARILLO; OFF TO ODESSA

Jan 21, 2013

The Corpus Christi IceRays traveled to Amarillo this past weekend and fell on Friday night 5-2, but rebounded the following night in a shootout 4-3 over the league leading Bulls.  With the win on Saturday, the Rays’ moved out 6pts in front of Wichita Falls.  This weekend, Corpus Christi heads west to Odessa for a weekend series with the Jackalopes.

GAME #39 – 1-18-13: Corpus Christi 2-5 Amarillo – Corpus Christi scored two power-play goals in the first period as the IceRays and Bulls were deadlocked at two through 20min of play.  However, in the third, Amarillo scored three unanswered goals en route to a 5-2 win inside the Amarillo Civic Center.  Rudy Sulmonte started the scoring on a two man advantage.  Caleb O’Brien took a shot from the point that Sulmonte deflected past Paul Berrafato for a 1-0 lead just 5:56 into the game.  The Bulls answered back at 7:14 of the first on a shot from Tyler Gernhofer that rebounded right to Matt Sieckhaus who slid the loose puck behind Hayden Stewart tying the game at one a piece.  Brandon Smith added the IceRays second power-play tally of the evening at 14:46 of period one.  Rudy Sulmonte took a shot that drew a jam in front of the net.  Smith was the last to touch the puck to put Corpus Christi out front again 2-1.  That lead didn’t last long as TJ Sarcona tied the game on the power-play at 16:18 and the game was tied after the first period.  After no scoring in the second, Gage Christianson struck for the Bulls just 35sec into the third period from TJ Sarcona and Amarillo didn’t look back.  Sarcona then added his second goal of the night at 3:19 putting the Bulls ahead two goals.  Clint Carlisle capped off the scoring with a nice wrist shot from the top of the circle that sailed over the shoulder of Hayden Stewart and just under the crossbar for a 5-2 lead.  Stewart stopped 41 of 46 shots and the IceRays held Amarillo to just 1 for 9 on the power-play.

GAME #40 – 1-19-13: Corpus Christi 4-3 (SO) Amarillo – The Corpus Christi IceRays, despite being banged up with only 17 skaters beat the NAHL leading Amarillo Bulls yet again, this time in a shootout 4-3 on Saturday night backed by 49 saves by Ben Myers inside the Amarillo Civic Center.  After no scoring in the first period, Rudy Sulmonte found Mike Economos in front of the net who deflected the pass into the net giving Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead just 12 seconds into the middle period.  Jalen Schulz put the IceRays up 2-0 when the puck came out to the top of the right wing circle.  Schulz stepped into a shot and beat Collin Delia at 7:48 of the second assisted by Brandon Berkley and Beau Walker.  Amarillo mounted a comeback at 8:55 as TJ Sarcona sent a puck to the net that goaltender Ben Myers did not see until it was in the net and the Bulls were on the board trailing 2-1.  The game tying strike came at 14:23 when Ryan Cole fired a shot from the top of the circles over the shoulder of Myers off of a Gage Christianson pass to pull the game even at two goals apiece.  Wayland Williams regained the lead 3-2 for the Rays’ on a wrister just 22 seconds later assisted by Rudy Sulmonte.  Amarillo stuck around as John Rey let a shot go from the point on the power-play at 16:44 of the second frame to tie the game and eventually force overtime.  A shootout commenced and Corpus Christi scored three times in the shootout while Ben Myers stood ground and the Rays’ picked up a 4-3 win.  Charles Baldwin, Emil Romig, and Brandon Smith all scored.  Ben Myers was on fire denying 49 of 52 shots in the win.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS:

Wednesday, February 6th @ 7:05PM vs. Odessa Jackalopes
Dollar Night – $1 Hotdogs & $1 Soda!

Friday, February 7th @ 7:05PM vs. Odessa Jackalopes
Frosty Friday – Half off 20oz beer & 24oz Soda!
Pink The Rink Night – Presented by RADIOLOGY & IMAGING
            – Jersey Auction following the game!

AROUND THE SOUTH DIVISION:  

TEAM

GP

W

L

OTL

PTS

PCT

GF

GA

PIM

HOME

AWAY

Amarillo

38

28

4

6

62

.816

161

83

750

16-1-3

12-3-3

Texas

41

30

10

1

61

.744

163

102

774

15-6-1

15-4-0

Topeka

39

24

10

5

53

.679

122

93

923

12-6-3

12-4-2

Corpus Christi

40

16

18

6

38

.475

120

140

941

7-12-1

9-6-5

Wichita Falls

38

15

21

2

32

.421

112

135

621

9-8-1

6-13-1

Odessa

38

5

31

2

12

.158

75

186

760

1-14-1

4-17-1

CORPUS CHRISTI’S RECORD AGAINST OPPONENTS:

AMARILLO: 3-3-0
TEXAS: 1-7-0

TOPEKA: 0-2-0
WICHITA FALLS: 1-2-3
ODESSA: 4-0-0
FAIRBANKS: 1-1-2
KENAI RIVER: 4-0-0

ICERAYS LEADERS:

GOALS: Rudy Sulmonte – 18
ASSISTS: Emil Romig – 24
POINTS: Perry D’Arrisso – 40
PLUS/MINUS: Mike Economos, Wayland Williams, Grant Hutton – +4
PENALTY MINUTES: Mike Economos – 104min
SHOTS: Rudy Sulmonte – 134
WINS: Hayden Stewart & Ben Myers – 7
GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE: Ben Myers – 3.06
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Ben Myers – .912

NOT SO DOMINANT…Amarillo may be the best team in the NAHL; however, the IceRays have caused the Bulls problems all year splitting the season series through six games played. 

STAR PERFORMANCE… Ben Myers stopped 49 of 52 shots in Saturday night’s 4-3 shootout win in Amarillo, including three of four attempts in the shootout.

PLAYOFF RACE…Corpus Christi is now 6pts in front of Wichita Falls after this past weekends’ split with Amarillo, and remains in 4th place with 38pts. 

INJURY BUG…The IceRays played with only 17 players on Saturday after Perry D’Arrisso, AJ Jarosz, and Caleb O’Brien were all injured during the four game road trip. 

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, 3A) – 21GP
            – Frank Misuraca (U. of Alabama-Huntsville) – (2g, 4a) – 16GP
            – Pheonix Copley (Michigan Tech) – (4-8-1, 2.86GAA, .909%)
            – Mychal Monteith (Mercyhurst) – (0g, 2a) – 17GP
            – Colton Saucerman (Northeastern) – (1g, 5a) – 17GP

NCAA D-III…
            – Greg Chapman (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 1a) – 14GP
            – Luc Neitenbach (Worcester State) – (0g, 0a) – 9GP
            – Kevin Crowe (Wentworth College) – (6g, 3a) – 16GP
            – Derrek Schartz (Tufts University) – (1g, 1a) – 12GP
            – Josh Obregon (Johnson & Wales U.) – (5g, 9a) – 17GP
            – Anton Olsson (Lawrence College) – (0-1, 6.00GAA, .838%)
            – Navarone Copley (St. Mary’s U.) – (0g, 0a) – 9GP
            – Jonathan Sdao (Colby College) – (3g, 4a) – 14GP

USHL…
            Matthew Weis (Green Bay Gamblers) – (8g, 14a) – 31GP
            Danny Fetzer (Chicago Steel) – (2g, 5a) – 29GP
            – Travis Maxwell (Lincoln) – (1g, 4a) – 19GP
            Roman Uchyn (Des Moines) – (4g, 2a) – 13GP

OHL…
            Anthony Stolarz (London) – (1-0-0, 2.98GAA, .905%)

QMJHL…
            Phil Pietroniro (Shawinigan) – (3g, 4a) – 23GP

WHAT’S ON TAP…  The IceRays are in Odessa this weekend as they take on the Odessa Jackalopes at 7:05PM on Friday and Saturday night.  Pregame show starts 15 minutes prior to ALL IceRays away games on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, ustream.com, 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.