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Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Moccasins strike down IceRays, 7-4
Corpus Christi's December woes continue with road loss to Monroe
From staff and correspondent reports

Once again, a change of scenery did nothing to help chase away the Corpus Christi IceRays' December blues.
   This time it was the Monroe Moccasins who did in the IceRays, 7-4, in front of 2,030 screaming Moccasins fans at Monroe Civic Center Arena. It would be an understatement to say Corpus Christi has struggled in the final month of the millennium. The IceRays are 3-5-2 for in December and just 1-3-2 on the road this month.
   Forward Matt Cressman scored a goal and recorded two assists to lead Monroe (22-10-1, 45 points) to its sixth straight win. The IceRays gave up four power-plays goals in the game, tying a franchise worst.
   Roger Lewis scored two goals in the losing effort for Corpus Christi, who remains in last place in the Western Professional Hockey League's Central Division with a 13-12-6 record (32 points). Meanwhile, Monroe remains in first place of the WPHL Eastern Division.
   The IceRays are 4-6-4 away from Memorial Coliseum. The good news is Corpus Christi has just one game remaining this month and it will be played at home, Thursday against Odessa.
   That Kurt Wickenheiser and Geoff Bumstead preserved their respective streaks was some measure of good news in the loss Tuesday as well. A goal by Wickenheiser advanced his point streak to 14 games and his goal streak to five games. With an assist, Bumstead made it 15 straight games in which he has recorded at least one assist.
   IceRays goalie Eddy Skazyk dropped his record to 8-5-3.
   After goals by Monroe forwards Darren Dougan and Lukas Smital gave Monroe an early 2-0 lead, Corpus Christi responded with a pair of goals to knot the game at 2-2.
   Bumstead got the scoring going for the IceRays, depositing his 16th of the year at the 7:13 mark of the first period. Lewis followed suit by beating Monroe goalie Clint Owen 1:16 after Bumstead scored.
   At that point, Monroe coach Brian Curran had seen enough of Owen. Curran pulled the starting goalie and inserted Marten Engren between the pipes.
   The tactic sparked the Moccasins, who took the lead for good, 4-2, behind two goals by forward Bill McKay. McKay scored his first of the night with 3:24 to play in the first period; he scored again 5:33 into the second period.
   Engren got the win and improved to 11-5-1.
   Cressman added a goal in the final 20 seconds of the second period to give Monroe a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes.
   Corpus Christi sliced into the lead 2:14 into the third period with a Wickenheiser power-play goal. Assisted by Bumstead, it was Wickenheiser's ninth power-play goal and 25th overall, both of which are team bests.
   The two teams exchanged goals twice in the third period, Wickenheiser and Lewis scoring for the IceRays.
   IceCubes
   PLAYER OF THE WEEK: IceRays forward Kurt Wickenheiser was named WPHL player of the week for the week ending Dec. 26.
   Wickenheiser recorded eight points (five goals, three assists) in just two games last week, including a five-point night in a 7-1 Corpus Christi victory against Amarillo on Dec. 23. Additionally, Wickenheiser has recorded at least one point in the last 14 IceRays' games. He leads his team with 24 goals.
   Corpus Christi 2 0 2 -- 4
   Monroe 3 2 2 -- 7

   FIRST PERIOD -- 1, Monroe, Darren Dougan (Freeman, Anneck), 2:22, (pp). 2, Monroe, Lukas Smital (unassisted), 5:56. 3, Corpus Christi, Geoff Bumstead (Wickenheiser, T. Praznik), 7:13, (pp). 4, Corpus Christi, Roger Lewis (Holliday, Hoiness), 8:29. 5, Monroe, Bill McKay (Cressman, Smital), 16:46, (pp).
   SECOND PERIOD -- 6, Monroe, McKay (Yoder, Cressman), 5:33, (pp). 7, Monroe, Matt Cressman (Hartigan, Dalmao), 19:42.
   THIRD PERIOD -- 8, Corpus Christi, Kurt Wickenheiser (Bumstead) 2:14, (pp). 9, Monroe, Dougan (Smith, Parent), 17:11, (pp). 10, Monroe, Dorian Anneck (Dougan, Parent), 18:37. 11, Corpus Christi, Lewis (Snesar, McArthur), 19:06.
   SHOTS ON GOAL-Corpus Christi 20-15-18 53. Monroe 20-13-19 52. Goalies-Corpus Christi, Eddy Skayzk (8-5-3). Monroe, Clint Owen (11-5-0); Marten Engren (11-5-1) at 8:29 of 1st. A -- 2,030.

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