Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Barnes, Central Texas hand IceRays their fifth straight loss in 1-0 victory

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Saturday, October 28, 2000

Barnes, Central Texas hand IceRays their fifth straight loss in 1-0 victory
Despite defeat, Hall is impressed with team’s cohesiveness against Stampede
By Mark Zuckerman
Caller-Times
Forgive the Corpus Christi IceRays and Central Texas Stampede if they are a little sick of each other right now. Playing four times in the last nine days will do that to you.
   The WPHL Eastern Division foes' showdown Friday night at Memorial Coliseum proved to be the best game between the two this season, with the Stampede's Matt Barnes outdueling Jason Carey in net to give Central Texas a 1-0 victory.
   Though the shutout proved to be the IceRays' fifth loss in a row, head coach Taylor Hall could find little fault with his team, which played for the third night in a row and was without leading scorer Kurt Wickenheiser.
   "I think that's the best game we've played as a team all year," said Hall, whose IceRays dropped to 3-4-1 on the season. "We threw everything but the kitchen sink at Matt Barnes, and he just came up big. I can't be upset with the effort."
   Central Texas (3-1-2) lit the lamps before most fans had settled into their seats. Three minutes into the game, Matt Hill took a pass from Peter Zurba at the left point and fired a shot through Carey's legs to give the Stampede a 1-0 lead.
   Little did anyone know Hill's first goal of the season would be the only goal of the evening.
   Not that the two teams weren't blistering Carey and Barnes with shots. The IceRays had countless scoring chances, with shots hitting the post, shots deflected in front of the net and shots that managed to find their way right to one of Barnes' pads.
   And Carey made the biggest save of the night, stonewalling Chris Johnston's penalty shot attempt in the first period.
   "We were lucky to win the game," Central Texas coach Todd Lalonde said. "They were outplaying us all night. Thank heavens we had good goaltending."
   A flurry of IceRay shots fired at Barnes throughout the game, but perhaps the defining moment came early in the third period, when Corpus Christi found itself with a brief two-man advantage followed by a power play. During a rush at the net, Barnes wound up sprawled on the ice, with the puck sitting a few feet away at the front of the crease. And still Barnes found a way to keep the puck on the safe side of the goal line.
   "We're going through a real spell right now," said Hall, whose team opened the season 3-0 before hitting its current slide. "But considering this was our third game in three nights, I can't be upset. It was like a playoff game tonight."
   The IceRays found out minutes before the game that they would be without Wickenheiser. The veteran forward was suspended by the WPHL for two games for a cross check he threw against Fort Worth Wednesday night.



Staff writer Mark Zuckerman can be reached at 886-3747 or by e-mail at zuckermanm@caller.com

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