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Monday, November 13, 2000

IceRays trounce Tupelo
Carey blanks T-Rex in 4-0 C.C. triumph
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
The Tupelo T-Rex came to Corpus Christi as the top-scoring team in the Western Professional Hockey League.
   Tupelo's offense was extinct against the IceRays Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.
   Corpus Christi launched its own offensive against Tupelo and completely stuffed the T-Rex in a 4-0 win in the IceRays' only Sunday matinee this season.
   The IceRays' defensemen smothered Tupelo's forwards every time the T-Rex ventured into the Corpus Christi zone. Passes by the T-Rex, who lead the league with 75 goals, never found their mark or were intercepted and sent back down to Tupelo's side of the ice. Tupelo forward Jason Firth, who leads the league with 32 points, had just one shot on goal.
   "We knew what we needed to do," said IceRays coach Taylor Hall, who earned his 126th career victory. "We had to pay special attention to a number of their guys. You're not going to shut them down every night. What we had going was working."
   IceRay goalie Jason Carey didn't have to do much work. The T-Rex, who have the league's top four scorers on their roster, took just 24 shots at Carey (6-3-1).
   Corpus Christi finished with 53 shots against the T-Rex, the most attempted by the IceRays this season. Hall said sluggish play provided plenty of opportunities throughout the game.
   "We wanted the puck a lot more than they did," Hall said. "They were watching and waiting for a chance. We didn't have too many mistakes and played good defensive coverage. Carey also had a strong game. It's good when you only have to score one goal to win."
   Tupelo dropped its third straight game to fall to 8-6-1 in the WPHL Eastern Division. The win was the IceRays' second in as many days and vaults them past Lake Charles in the Eastern Division standings with a 6-7-1 mark.
   In the first period it was the IceRays who looked like the league's No. 1 offensive team, outshooting the T-Rex, 22-8. Corpus Christi was also able to manuever easily through Tupelo's defense with deft passes in the zone.
   The IcRays were also busy with their fists. Four fights erupted in the opening period, the third a bloody exchange between Dennis Shiryaev and Dave Jesiolowski with 3:21 left on the clock. Shiryaev opened a gash high above the brow on Jesiolowski's shaved head, dripping blood all over the ice near the Corpus Christi goal.
   Workers attempted to scrape off the frozen blood with a shovel, but officials decided to stop play in order to resurface the ice. Following the intermission, the teams returned to finish the 3:21 remaining in the first period, then took a one-minute break before beginning the second.
   Tupelo very aggressive off the opening draw. The T-Rex went on a power play 1:52 into the game, but were denied offensively by Corpus Christi's penalty killing unit.
   Just seconds after the penalty expired, IceRay forward Jeff Paluseo appeared to have scored his fifth goal of the year. The goal, however, was waved off because of a goaltender interference call against Dennis Shiryaev.
   Tupelo again had a one-man advantage later in the period, but still was unable to find any scoring opportunities against the IceRays.
   With 13:30 left in first period, defenseman Gatis Tseplis did put the IceRays on the board with his fourth goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.
   An interference call on Tupelo's Barry McKinlay gave the IceRays a power play opportunity with 12 minutes to play in the period. That turned into a two-man advantage following a slashing call against Mike Van Volsen.
   The IceRays took several shots in close at T-Rex goalie Roby Gropp, including one that bounced off the crossbar, but the puck was either deflected or missed wide on the net.
   After the first intermission it was more of the same from the IceRays.
   With less than three minutes left to play, Matt Van Horlick took the puck straight up the ice into the Tupelo zone. Van Horlick passed the puck behind him to Kelvin Solari, who was just inside the blue line.
   Solari weaved through a crowd of players up to the right side of the goal and flipped the puck over Gropp into the net. The goal, Solari's first of the season, extended Corpus Christi's lead to 2-0 with 2:31 left in the first period.
   Jesiolowski and Shiryaev tangled again with just under nine minutes left in the second period, but referees were able to contain the two before any punches were thrown. Shiryaev was called for unsportsmanlike and spent two minutes in the penalty box, while Jesioloswki was called for a double-minor roughing penalty.
   The IceRays weren't able to capitalize on a power play opportunity when Joe Van Volsen was called for crosschecking.
   When the teams returned to full-strength, Dustin McArthur sneaked in front of the crease and found the right side of the net unguarded by Gropp, who had fallen attempting to defend Brad Wingfield coming from behind the goal. Wingfield passed the puck to McArthur and with five minutes left in the second the IceRays took a 3-0 lead.
   Tupelo began the final period on a power play following a double-minor penalty on Corpus Christi's Wingfield after time had expired in the second.
   For four minutes Tupelo skated with a man-advantage, but the T-Rex managed just one shot against the IceRays' stifling defense.
   Almost as soon as the power play ended, Tupelo was back on a man advantage. Like before, Carey and Corpus Christi's defensemen bottled up Tupelo's offense.
   Corpus Christi defenseman Jaime scored his 98th career goal and seventh of the season at the 14:30 mark in the third period, slapping a cross-ice pass from Jeff Paluseo past a diving Gropp. Hearn tied Tupelo's Barry McKinlay for first in the WPHL for goals by a defenseman.

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