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Friday, March 2, 2001
Ice Pirates stop IceRays, 6-3
Loss helps bring Moccasins within three points in standings
By Matt Young
Caller-Times

David Pellerin/Caller-Times

Corpus Christi's Shawn Frappier tries to cut off Lake Charles' Derrell Upton.

Lake Charles was supposed to be the team merely finishing out the string, while Corpus Christi was supposed to be the team rolling on its way to the playoffs.
   On Thursday, things looked much different.
   Lake Charles, just a loss away from being knocked out of playoff contention and losers of eight of its last 10 games, ripped the IceRays 6-3 at Memorial Coliseum.
   Corpus Christi had won five games in a row, but have since lost two straight games and given up six goals in both losses.
   "We were playing pretty well, but the last two games we've definitely been off our game," Corpus Christi coach Taylor Hall said. "We plan to allow three goals or fewer, so when you allow six goals, you're not giving your team a very good chance to win. I've seen us play some unbelievable games this season, but this obviously wasn't one of them."
   The IceRays will feel the sting of the loss in the playoff standings. With the combination of the loss and Monroe's 3-2 win over Bossier-Shreveport on Thursday, Monroe moved just three points behind Corpus Christi for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
   Of the IceRays' nine remaining games, three are against Monroe, including a meeting Saturday at the coliseum.
   "Monroe won, so that's great, that'll make it that much more of an exciting game on Saturday," Hall said. "No doubt, the games continue to get bigger. We can't worry about how big the games are. We just have to execute our best game."
   Corpus Christi managed to tie Lake Charles 2-2 when Alex Kholomeyev fired in his second goal of the game early in the second period. After that, it was all Lake Charles.
   The Ice Pirates came right back and took the lead when John Hanson found the back of the net 3:02 into the second period. Just 20 seconds later, Chris Robertson, a former IceRay, skated in front of the net and got tripped up, but still found time to beat Corpus Christi goalie Brad Erbsland to give Lake Charles a 4-2 lead at the 3:22 mark of the second period.
   Midway through the second period, Lake Charles extended that lead when Erbsland couldn't corral his save and David Barozzino took control of the errant puck and sent it flying past Erbsland to give the Ice Pirates a commanding 5-2 lead at the 12:07 mark of the second period.
   Corpus Christi elected to pull Erbsland out of the game in favor of Rob Galatiuk after that goal.
   "Brad came in and played very, very well, but the last couple of games he's been kind of exposed," Hall said. "But the support wasn't quite there for him the way we would like to have it. When we're playing well, our goalies aren't having to make too many big saves because our team defense is so good. Our team defense hasn't been there the last couple games."
   The IceRays cut into the lead with a goal by Jeff Cheeseman, but Lake Charles came right back and stretched that lead to 6-3 just moments later. The Ice Pirates got a bit of a break when Barozzino blocked an IceRays slapshot, sending the puck screaming down to the other end. Hanson caught up to the errant puck and fired it past Galatiuk for Lake Charles' 6th goal of the game late in the second period.
   The IceRays got on the board first with an easy goal. Kholomeyev skated up the ice and fired what appeared to be an easy slap shot from just across the blue line, but the puck sneaked past Lake Charles goalie Rick Nichol to put the IceRays up 1-0 with 18:28 still left in the first period.
   Nichol toughened up the rest of the way as his offense went to work. Lake Charles got another lucky break on its first goal as Chad Leslie tried to send a pass towards the net, but the puck deflected off the back of Corpus Christi left wing Cory Evans' leg and into the net to tie the score 1-1.
   Lake Charles got a much more skillful goal to take the lead when Derrell Upton sent a pass in front of the net to a waiting Bill Lund, who fired the puck top shelf to give Lake Charles a 2-1 lead at 14:51 in the first period.

   Lake Charles 2 4 0--6
   Corpus Christi 1 2 0--3
   FIRST PERIOD -- 1, Corpus Christi, Alex Kholomeyev, 1:32; 2, Lake Charles, Chad Leslie (Dunn, Llano), 4:57; 3, Lake Charles, Bill Lund (Upton, Hanson), 14:51. PENALTIES-Van Horlick, CC (hooking), 2:01.
   SECOND PERIOD -- 4, Corpus Christi, Alex Kholomeyev (Hearn, Bumstead), :51; 5, Lake Charles, John Hanson (Lund), 3:02; 6, Lake Charles, Chris Robertson (Skiehar, Leslie), 3:22; 7, Lake Charles, David Barozzino (Lund, Upton), 12:07; 8, Corpus Christi, Jeff Cheeseman (Evans, Praznik), 14:48; 9, Lake Charles, John Hanson, 16:46. PENALTIES-Hearn, CC (interference), 5:30; Orzoff, LC (holding), 8:33. THIRD PERIOD-no goals. PENALTIES-Frappier, CC (interference), 12:29; Hanson, LC (interference), 15:44.
   SHOTS ON GOAL-Lake Charles 12-13-2 27. Corpus Christi 10-13-9 32. GOALIES-Lake Charles, Rick Nichol 29 saves (2-1-0); Corpus Christi, Brad Erbsland 16 saves (5-3-0), Rob Galatiuk 5 saves. REFEREE-Boyd. A -- 3,587.


Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com

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