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Sunday, December 19, 1999
Ex-IceRay makes Tupelo coaching debut in victory
Harper directs Eastern Division's last-place team to 4-2 triumph over Corpus Christi
From staff reports
TUPELO, Miss. - With defensive concerns high on the Corpus Christi IceRays' list all season, they had to contend with a rare problem Saturday night - no offensive production.
The result was a 4-2 victory by the Tupelo T-Rex in a battle of cellar dwellars in the Western Professional Hockey League.
Dustin McArthur's redirection goal midway through the third period helped Corpus Christi avoid its second shutout in franchise history. Central Texas blanked the IceRays, 5-0, last season on Jan. 23.
But it wasn't enough to prevent the IceRays from slipping to 12-11-5 in the WPHL Central Division. Corpus Christi has lost successive games.
Saturday's victory belonged to Tupelo goaltender Roby Gropp (8-4-1). Gropp stopped 33 Corpus Christi shots. Averaging more than four goals a game, Corpus Christi was outshot by the T-Rex, 48-35.
Hard-luck Corpus Christi goaltender Jason Genik (5-7-2) was pinned with the loss. Genik made 44 saves, but didn't have much defensive help. He was pulled with 3 minutes, 55 seconds remaining to give Corpus Christi a 6-on-5 advantage.
The IceRays turned that edge into Kurt Wickenheiser's goal at the 19:07 mark, but the T-Rex responded 27 seconds later on Jeff Andrews' goal into an empty net. Andrews, Tupelo's leading scorer, has 14 goals.
Tupelo (9-13-7 in the WPHL's Eastern Division) snapped a two-game losing streak.
Jason Dexter and Toby Harris scored goals 1:22 apart in the third period to extend Tupelo's lead to 3-0.
Unlike Friday, when the IceRays scored on their first two shots and held a 3-0 lead against Arkansas before losing in a shootout, 5-4, the offense sputtered. Corpus Christi was outshot by the T-Rex, 15-8, in the opening 20 minutes, with three of the IceRays' shots coming in the final minute of the period.
But the IceRays' defense thwarted two Tupelo power plays - the T-Rex had only two shots with the man advantage - and escaped the period in a scoreless tie. Genik had three key saves midway through the period.
Tupelo's Martin Bellanger had his first shot of the second period clank off the left post, but the T-Rex's Casey Hungle regained the possession and fed the puck to Black, who fired the shot past Genik.
Geoff Bumstead's scoring and assist streaks were extended Saturday night for the IceRays. Bumstead assisted on Wickenheiser's goal, giving him 12 straight games in which he has recorded an assist and scored a point.
The IceRays are idle until Thursday, when they host Amarillo at Memorial Coliseum.
IceCubes
INJURY UPDATE: Corpus Christi rookie forward Dave Gilmore, sidelined since Nov. 30 after breaking a nose in practice, is set to come off the injured reserve list Dec. 30. Gilmore is fifth in team scoring with 26 points. Forward Mike Tomlinson, still recuperating from a concussion suffered Nov. 11 against Lubbock, was in Tupelo providing radio commentary. Tomlinson had been scheduled to come off the injured reserve list Friday but continues to battle post-concussion syndrome. Forward Quinton Van Horlick missed Saturday's game with an injury.
COACHING DEBUT: Former IceRay Reagan Harper, who has been sidelined eight days with a separated shoulder, coached his first game for Tupelo Friday night. Harper stood in for coach George Dupont, who served a one-game suspension for his critical comments about the officiating in last Friday's 4-3 shootout loss to Shreveport. The T-Rex lost at Monroe, 5-2.
Corpus Christi 0 0 2-2
Tupelo 0 1 3-4
SECOND PERIOD - 1, Tupelo, Clint Black (Casey Hungle), :35.
THIRD PERIOD - 2, Tupelo, Jason Dexter 7:20. 3, Tupelo, Toby Harris (Dexter), 9:42; 4, CC, Dustin McArthur, 11:52; 5, CC, Kurt Wickenheiser (Geoff Bumstead, Tobin Praznik), 19:07; 6, Tupelo, Jeff Andrews (Mike Mayhew), 19:34 (en).
Shots on goal - CC 8-15-12-35. Tupelo 15-21-12-48. Power-play opportunities - CC 0 of 1; Tupelo 0 of 2. Goalies - CC, Jason Genik 5-7-2 (47 shots, 44 saves). Tupelo, Roby Gropp 8-4-1 (35 shots, 33 saves).
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© 1999 Caller-Times Publishing Company,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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