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Saturday, March 31, 2001
’Rays are a rough foe for Tupelo
C.C. continues winning ways against the T-Rex
Matt Young
Staff writer
According to the standings, the Tupelo T-Rex are the giants of the WPHL. According to recent history, the IceRays are giant killers.
The T-Rex finished the regular season by winning 19 of their final 21 games, giving them a league-best 97 points. On the opposite end of the ice, Corpus Christi backed its way into the playoffs. Entrenched in a playoff chase last week, the IceRays lost their final two games of the season, but were still handed a postseason berth because of the equal ineptness of its nearest contender Monroe.
The numbers scream that Tupelo is the superior team in this first-round playoff series, but as proof that numbers do indeed lie, the T-Rex can't seem to do anything against the IceRays. In the regular season, Corpus Christi suffered just one defeat in five tries against Tupelo, and on Friday, it was T-Rex who did some more suffering.
In the regular season, just one of the five meetings was decided by more than one goal, this time Tupelo wasn't so lucky, getting smacked 7-3 at Memorial Coliseum. The obvious result of the win is the 1-0 advantage it gives the IceRays in the best-of-7 series, but it could have a much bigger meaning. The big dog in the league isn't supposed to be consistently bitten by someone from the middle of the litter. And, when the top dog keeps getting swatted over the head, it could start to have a psychological effect.
"It's got to hurt them a little," said Layne Roland, who notched a goal and two assists against Tupelo. "They are quite a team, so I'm sure they're going to bounce back."
When the T-Rex roll out of their hotel beds this morning they must answer a question: Have we allowed the IceRays to get in our heads?
If the answer's no, then Tupelo has nothing to worry about. Friday's loss was nothing more than a playoff loss on the road. Certainly not the worst thing in the world. The T-Rex still get four more shots at Corpus Christi back in Tupelo.
However, if this loss affects the T-Rex like the electric fence affected their movie brethren in "Jurassic Park," the hockey version of the T-Rex will soon be extinct as well.
"I'm not sure what this one loss does to them," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "We've got a lot of respect for those guys. They aren't the No. 1 team in this league for nothing. We ain't done nothing yet. This is a seven-game series, and we've won once. We've got tons more to do."
But, the T-Rex may have tons more to get over psychologically.
Short of calling Dionne Warwick, there's no way of telling what's rattling around in the heads of the T-Rex players the day after dropping another game to the IceRays.
While it may not be evidence of the IceRays having Tupelo's number, T-Rex coach George Dupont did show his frustration after the second period. With the IceRays strangling Tupelo 4-1 after two periods, Corpus Christi's Alex Kholomeyev got in the face of Tupelo's Rod Butler. After Butler skated away, Kholomeyev said something to Dupont. As he was leaving the ice, Dupont gave a two-handed shove to Kholomeyev's chest, drawing a bench minor penalty that was served at the beginning of the third period. While Dupont continued to make his way off the ice, several IceRays circled him and gave him a few cocky grins.
Late in the blowout loss, Tupelo showed more frustration when Butler continued to try to bait Corpus Christi hothead Brad Wingfield into a fight. Wingfield, the giver of some big hits all night, never took the bait.
"We may have them frustrated on the physical side of things maybe," Roland said. "We laid some big hits on those guys. They have to be sore after this game. Hopefully, they're a little frustrated by the physical play."
The physicalities of the first game might have been frustrating for the T-Rex, but another in a long line of losses to the IceRays was probably even more frustrating.
Staff writer Matt Young can be reached at 886-3702 or by e-mail at youngm@caller.com
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a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
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