RIO RANCHO, NM – Marco Wieser earned his first shutout of the season, making 28 saves, as the New Mexico Mustangs took the first of two games on the weekend against the Corpus Christi IceRays, 6-0, at the Santa Ana Star Center on Friday night. With the win, the Mustangs improve to 10-23-2 (22 points) while the IceRays fall to 15-21-2 (32 points) overall. Corpus Christi’s six-game winning streak over the Mustangs was snapped.
Mason Murovich made 13 third period saves in relief of Pheonix Copley in his first action for Corpus Christi.
New Mexico picked up the first three goals of the game, all coming in the first period. Patrick Anderson, who had a natural hat-trick in his last game, tallied twice (4:08, 16:18) for his 11th and 12th goals of the season. Kevin O’Connor (3) sandwiched a goal at the 10:31 mark in between the two Anderson goals after he found himself all alone in front of Copley’s net following a turnover. Corpus Christi had a lengthy five-on-three power play with seven minutes remaining in the period, but they could not convert and the ‘Stangs carried a 3-0 lead with them into the locker room. New Mexico outshot Corpus Christi, 9-7.
The ‘Stangs increased their lead to 5-0 at the end of two periods of play with two goals potted off the stick of Ian McGilvrey. His first came shorthanded, 5:49 into the second period, as he took a shorthanded breakaway opportunity length of the ice and wristed a snap shot past the blocker of Copley. McGilvrey scored his second of the night after his forechecking pressure cause Copley to inadvertently put the puck past his own goal line at the 11:48 mark. The ‘Rays outshot the Mustangs, 12-8.
New Mexico closed the scoring at 6-0 as Adam Chapie (8) scored on the power play past Murovich at the 10:47 mark of the third period. Murovich had replaced Copley after the second intermission. New Mexico went 2-7 on the power play while the IceRays were 0-9. Final shots favored New Mexico, 31-28.
THREE STARS OF THE GAME:
- Marco Wieser (28 saves, shutout)
- Patrick Anderson (2-1-3)
- Ian McGilvrey (2-0-2)
The IceRays continue their three-game road trip in New Mexico on Saturday night, beginning at 8:30 PM CT. Fans can catch the pre-game show on the flagship home of the IceRays, News/Talk 1440 KEYS, www.1440KEYS.com, with the voice of the IceRays, Ryan Holt, beginning 15 minutes prior to every game. The games 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”