Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - CC pushes past Austin in 2-1 win

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Saturday, January 20, 2001

CC pushes past Austin in 2-1 win
Goalie’s strong effort leads IceRays past ‘Bats
By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times
AUSTIN-Austin has been nothing but a bully to the Corpus Christi IceRays this season.
   Friday night it was the IceRays who did the pushing around.
   Behind a near-perfect performance by goaltender Eddy Skazyk, Corpus Christi held on for a 2-1 win over Austin at the Travis County Exposition Center.
   Skazyk dove, reached and stretched to stop 34 of 35 shots in earning his 12th win. While Skazyk held off the Ice Bats on one end of the ice, Jeff Paluseo and Layne Roland provided all the offense the IceRays would need.
   Dan Price brought Austin to within one goal with 34 seconds left in the game, but it wasn't enough as the IceRays improved to 23-18-3 (49 points). The victory brings Corpus Christi into a tie for fourth place tie with Monroe in the Western Professional Hockey League Eastern Division.
   Austin, still the No. 1 team in the Eastern Division, fell to 27-12-3 (57 points) in losing their second straight game.
   The IceRays are now 2-5-1 against Austin this season, avenging a 3-2 shootout loss last Saturday in the same building.
   Corpus Christi began the game with one less forward after Jeff Cheeseman was struck by a puck just over his right eye during the pregame skate. Cheesman was not in uniform for the start of the game and did not return.
   Precise passing by Austin in the Corpus Christi zone provided the Ice Bats several clear shots at the net. Stingy defense by the IceRays' defensemen kept the puck from reaching Skazyk.
   Three minutes into the first period Corpus Christi worked the puck into the Austin zone. McMullen kept Dustin McArthur from muscling the puck across the red line.
   Jeff Paluseo joined McArthur in the crowd of players battling for the puck. Both IceRays forwards furiously poked at the ice attempting to get the puck past McMullen.
   Play was finally stopped when the Austin net was knocked off its moorings. The Ice Bats skated off await the ensuing face off, but referee Chris Brown ruled that the puck crossed the red line before the net came loose.
   The goal was credited to Paluseo, with an assist going to McArthur and Alex Kholomeyev, and gave Corpus Christi a 1-0 lead at 3:04 of the opening period.
   Austin had outscored (11-2) and outshot (91-57) Corpus Christi during the first period in the teams' first seven meetings. Friday night, it was the IceRays who held the lead after the first and also a 14-10 advantage on shots on goal.
   The majority of the Ice Bats' shots on Skazyk were in close, and either sailed wide or were deflected up and over the net.
   Austin finished the first 0-3 on the power play.
   Corpus Christi began the second period with nearly two minutes of penalty time following a roughing double minor call on Derek Nicolson late in the first.
   It wasn't until Austin's fifth power play, its second of the period, that the Ice Bats finally beat Skazyk to tie the game, or so it appeared.
   A horde of players had gathered around the net attempting to get positioning. Austin's Mike Gaffney pumped his arms into the air in celebration after scoring what he thought was his fifth goal of the season.
   But Brown waived off the goal, saying Skazyk fell on the puck before it crossed the line.
   A scuffle erupted later in the second period along the boards in the left corner behind the Corpus Christi goal between several players going for the puck. During the melee, Kholomeyev was struck in the jaw for the second time in as many games against the Ice Bats, this time with the end of David Brosseau's stick.
   Austin's Jeff Greenlaw was suspended for one game for a hit on Kholomeyev in the Ice Bats' 3-2 shootout win over Corpus Christi last Saturday. The shot in the first period by Greenlaw dislocated Kholomeyev's jaw and knocked the forward out of the game.
   Brosseau, however, was called for elbowing and spent just two minutes in the penalty box. Kholomeyev, who clutched his left jaw for several minutes until play resumed, remained in the game.



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

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