October 24, 2010 –
The Corpus Christi IceRays had no answer for an explosive Texas offense and fell to the Tornado, 8-3, at the American Bank Center on Sunday afternoon. Tornado forward Jackson Leef tallied a hat trick and earned first star of the game.
For Corpus Christi, Josh Munford scored his first goal of the season and Michael Benedict scored his eighth goal of the season and had two points on the afternoon.
For the second game in a row, the Tornado opened the scoring as they dominated the first twenty minutes of play. Goals from Marc Biggs (5) and Jackson Leef (3) at the 2:16 and 18:23 marks respectively put Texas on top, 2-0. Shots heavily favored the Tornado, 20-3.
Corpus Christi cut the deficit in half on the power play as Josh Munford (1) poked home his own rebound at the 6:37 mark. The goal was assisted by Navarone Copley and Beau Walker. The Tornado then stuck for two goals, 18 seconds apart, 14:32 and 14:50 into the period as Leef (4) tallied his second goal of the game and Howard (5) extended the lead to 4-1. The IceRays pulled the deficit back to two, at the 19:09 mark, when Ben Hughes (4) snapped a shot from the point past Jake Stafford on the power play. Walker collected his second assist of the game and Michael Benedict picked up his seventh assist of the season on the goal. The teams went to the locker rooms with the Tornado on top, 4-2. Texas held the shot advantage, 13-9.
Texas put the game away in the third period with four third period goals including Leef (5) collecting a hat trick for the Tornado. The IceRays scored once on the power play with Benedict scoring his team-leading eighth goal of the season, but it was not enough as the Tornado walked away with an 8-3 victory. The period saw seven total ejections, including IceRays’ head coach Brent Hughes. Final shots were 61-20 in favor of the Tornado including a 27-8 mark in the third period.
Corpus Christi hits the road for two games at Wichita Falls on Friday and Saturday, both games at 7:05 PM. Vernon’s Bar and BBQ, the official viewing home of the IceRays, will have both games on the big screen. Fans can catch the pre-game show on the flagship station of the IceRays, 1440 AM KEYS, with the voice of the IceRays, Ryan Holt, beginning at 6:50 PM. The game will be available online through the league’s pay-per-view website, www.fasthockey.com. For more information call the Rays’ front office at 361.814.PUCK (7825) or crash the net at www.goicerays.com.
“THE NEW ICERAYS…TOMORROW’S STARS”
