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Wednesday, November 15, 2000

IceRays overcome Ice Bats
Team explodes with 3 goals to win, 4-2
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
Having lost to Austin twice already this season, the Corpus Christi IceRays were looking for a little revenge Tuesday.
   Corpus Christi survived its third battle against the Ice Bats at Memorial Coliseum by posting a 4-2 win over Austin.
   The score was tied, 1-1, entering the final period until a three-goal eruption by the IceRays on scores from Mario Domoulin, Jeff Paluseo and Kurt Wickenheiser.
   In defeating the first-place team in the Western Professional Hockey League Eastern Division standings, Corpus Christi improves to 8-8-1 (17 points), tied with Tupelo for fourth place in the Eastern Division. Austin dropped to 9-4-1 with its first loss in three games.
   Corpus Christi extended its winning streak to three with the win as it prepares for a stretch of five road games over the next week and a half, beginning with Central Texas on Friday.
   The IceRays were playing without the injured Geoff Bumstead and Jody Praznik, which Wickenheiser said demonstrates the ability of the IceRays to overcome adversity.
   "It's a long season," said Wickenheiser, who now leads the team with 19 points after notching his eighth goal and 11th assist of the season. "You can't get too high; you can't get too low. You have to play at an even level par. We were banged up coming into the game, but that's the way it's been all season."
   Corpus Christi goalie Jason Carey improved to 7-3-1 after stopping 33 of 35 shots.
   The first Austin power play came 46 seconds into the game when Shawn Frappier was called for obstruction tripping. The penalty expired before the Ice Bats could get a shot on Carey.
   With 9:34 left in the opening period, Corpus Christi had its first power play opportunity. Much like Austin, the IceRays had difficulty breaking through the Ice Bats' zone and managed just one shot.
   Three minutes later, Austin's Jeff Kungle was sent to the penalty box for holding against Wickenheiser behind the Ice Bats' net. Austin, which boasts the league's seventh best penalty killing unit, this time denied the IceRays any scoring chances.
   Austin nearly scored a shorthanded goal when Bobby Brown broke through Corpus Christi's defense for a one-on-one shot against Carey. Brown's shot was deflected into the corner and cleared after Carey made the save from his knees.
   Jonathan Forest made two big saves early in the second period for Austin, and continued his mastery on a Corpus Christi power play, denying Wickenheiser his eighth goal of the season.
   Corpus Christi's Carey was just as tough in front of the net at the other end of the ice, halting several shots by the Ice Bats.
   With 11:46 left in the second period, defenseman Gatis Tseplis gave Corpus Christi the lead, 1-0, on a pass from Dustin McArthur right off the faceoff.
   Austin went on a power play shortly after Tseplis' goal, but Carey twice stopped the puck on open shots in front of the net.
   Dumoulin was later whistled for holding, giving the Ice Bats a power play opportunity with under five minutes left in the second.
   At the 16:28 mark, Austin's Kelly Smart slipped the puck past Carey on a feed from Mike Gaffney. Smart's goal, his eighth of the season, tied the game at 1-1.

GOALIE HONORED:
   Carey was named WPHL Goaltender of the Week after helping lead the IceRays to a 3-1-0 record over the last four games, including a shutout win over Tupelo last Sunday. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Carey stopped 140 of 152 shots to raise his save percentage to .903. The three wins improved Carey's record this season to 6-3-1. He needs 18 wins to pass Tony Martino for most victories by a goalie in the WPHL.

ROAD TRIP:
   Corpus Christi will be on the road for its next five games. The IceRays travel to Central Texas Saturday, followed by a game at Fort Worth next Wednesday. On Friday, Nov. 24, the team begins a three-day trip against Monroe and finishes with two straight games in Tupelo on Saturday and Sunday.
   Austin 0 1 1--2
   Corpus Christi 0 1 3--4
   First Period -- None. Penalties -- Frappier, CC (obstruction tripping) :46; Gaffney, Austin (obstruction tripping) 10:26; Kungle, Austin (holding) 13:09; Shiryaev, CC (roughing) 16:14.
   Second Period -- 1, CC, Tseplis 5 (McArthur) 8:14; 2, Austin, Smart 8 (Gaffney) 16:28. Penalties -- Butler, Austin (slashing) 3:57; Hearn, CC (slashing) 9:56; Dumoulin, CC (holding) 15:17.
   Third Period -- 3, CC, Domoulin 1 (Kholomeyev, Wickenheiser) 6:49; 4, CC, Paluseo 5 (Kholomeyev) 7:04; 5, Austin, Anderson 2 (Plante, Gaffney) 8:23; 6, CC, Wickenheiser 8 (Sharuga) 18:09. Penalties -- Brown, Austin (slashing) 5:13, McArthur, CC (roughing) 6:57; Gaffney, Austin (hooking); M. Van Horlick, CC (slashing) 13:42.
   Shots on goal -- Austin 6-16-13--35; Corpus Christi 9-12-12--33. Power-play opportunities -- Austin 2 of 6; Corpus Christi 1 of 5. Goalies -- Austin, Forest 9-11-6 (29 shots-26 saves), McMullen 0-0-3 (4-3); Corpus Christi, Carey 6-15-12 (35-33). Referee -- Matt Biolota. Linesmen -- Dave Pfohl, Dean Hill. A -- 3,421.



Staff writer Javier Becerra can be reached at 886-3734 or by e-mail at becerraj@caller.com

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