The IceRays hit the road to North Richland Hills over the weekend to face off against the Lone Star Brahmas. Although Corpus Christi came into the weekend with a 3-1 record against the Brahmas on the season, Lone Star was able to come away from both games in the series victorious.
Friday, March 18, 2022
Lone Star 3, ICERAYS 2 (F-SO)
The IceRays looked to continue on their winning ways against the Brahmas, which the Rays were 3-1-0 against entering Friday.
In a game filled with penalty minutes, the IceRays struck just a handful of minutes into the game on the power play off of the stick of Colby Seitz. Michael Casey and Kevin O’Keefe each assisted on the games opening goal, which put the IceRays ahead 1-0.
The lead remained in tact for just under five minutes of game time with Lone Star answering back with one of their own. The 1-1 tie stay for the rest of period number one.
The second period brought one more goal on each side and a ton of penalty minutes as well. The Brahmas were able to score on their first power play of the night to take a 2-1 lead. As the clock wound down on period number two, the IceRays were able to even things at 2-2 off of the stick of Trey Zagrzebski.
The 2-2 score was all the scoring that was found in period number two. A total of twelve penalty minutes had been assessed in the first forty minutes of the game. That number was multiplied by over ten times after the buzzer as the two teams showed their frustration against one another after the period. Three ejections occurred from the post-period excitement, which included Nathan Butler for the Rays.
In the third, the Rays were given a second game misconduct. This time, it was Cam Crolley for a spear. The penalty also sent Corpus to the penalty kill for the remainder of regulation with just under four minutes left in the game. The Rays killed off the penalty, and the two teams were destined for overtime.
Lone Star started overtime on the power play, and the Rays killed it off just over a minute into the extra frame. Even with having the man-advantage, Lone Star only managed to get one shot off in overtime. Neither side were able to sneak any past the opposing goaltender, which meant back-to-back Friday games in shootouts for Corpus Christi.
Although Zagrzebski got the Rays started on the right track with a goal, Lone Star took the shootout 2-1 and the game 3-2. Corpus Christi collected a point on Friday night in the loss and now sit with 49 on the season.
Saturday, March 20, 2022
Lone Star 3, ICERAYS 1
Following a shootout loss on Friday night, the Rays looked to bounce back on Saturday against Lone Star.
The Brahmas were able to strike first on Saturday with a goal from Nicholas Niemo. This was the lone goal in the first period on Saturday, as Lone Star took a 1-0 lead into intermission.
Corpus Christi was able to even things at 1-1 just under four minutes into the period. Michael Casey won a faceoff forward and managed to backhand one past Arthur Smith unassisted to tie things at one. The goal for Casey was his third point of the weekend moving him to 20 on the season. Casey has averaged over a point per game over his last twelve games played dating back to the beginning of February.
In the third, Lone Star was able to regain the lead at 2-1 just under halfway through the third period. The Brahmas extended their lead to 3-1 later on in the period capitalizing off of an IceRays turnover. Lone Star skated away from the weekend with the sweep and only allowing the IceRays one point from the weekend.
The Rays need to find something as they hit the ice for the third and fourth games of a four game road trip in Wichita Falls this weekend. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 pm on both Friday and Saturday night at Kay Yeager Coliseum.
Coverage for the series at Wichita Falls can be found on Brewster Street Radio. Pregame powered by H-E-B is scheduled to start at 6:45 both Friday and Saturday night.