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Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998
CC loses third straight game in brawl-filled match
By STU DUNCAN
Special to the Staff Writer

   It took all of nine seconds for the IceRays and the Waco Wizards to start a fight with each other Tuesday evening at Memorial Coliseum.
   And the hits didn't stop there.
   The teams nearly exchanged as many punches as they had shots attempted in the first period, which featured six altercations and 78 minutes in penalties.
   The second period was the turning point in the game, however, as Waco scored two goals within a five minute span to claim their second straight victory against the IceRays with a 2-1 victory. The IceRays (9-5-1, 19 points) have lost three consecutive games for the first time this season but still lead the Western Professional Hockey League's Central Division by two points over the second place Wizards (18-2-1, 17 points).
   "It was a hard-fought game and we played soild defensively," IceRays coach Taylor Hall said. "I have to give Waco a lot of credit. They have a real good team. We're just going to have to find a way to beat them."
   The lone score in the first period came at 7:09, when IceRays center Mike Tomlinson's shot from just outside the slot trickled past Wizards goalie Kory Cooper on the glove side. Cooper's view appeared to blocked because of traffic in front of him.
   The Wizards rebounded and knotted the score at 1 nearly halfway thugh the second period after Waco's Tony Cimellaro stuffed in a goal off a rebound.
   Five minutes, four seconds later, Waco took the lead for good after Eric Preston hovered around the goal before lifting a shot past an off-balanced Caprice.
   Both goalies proved up to the task as they combined to deny 24 shots in the second period alone. The IceRays outshot the Wizards 13-3 in the first but managed the one goal against Cooper. Cooper shined in the final period thwarting off three close encounters near the net, including to by the IceRays' Lorne Toews in the final three minutes. Cooper finished with 34 saves.
   Caprice stopped 22 shots during the game. His most impressive save came early in the first period when he successfully denied Waco's Brad Domonsky by deflecting the puck off of his chest pad on a breakaway attempt.
   IceRays will take on Central Texas Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum.
   IceCubes
   THUNDER WATCHES Las Vegas Thunder general manager Bob Strumm was on hand during Tuesday night's game at Memorial Coliseum. The IceRays are part of the Thunder's farm system. The Thunder competes in the International Hockey League, which is considered a step below the National Hockey League.
   Strumm said it was nice to receive a birds-eye view of the IceRays. He admitted he had his eye on the Russian Connection - the IceRays' Pavel Evstigneev and Vadim Sharapov - but they would stay put for now.
   "We know they're a key part of this hockey club," Strumm said. "We're off to a slow start. I know they've played well. We might bring them up in a short period of time to give them a look but we haven't made that decision yet. We wouldn't do anything permanent without replacing them."
   Strumm also liked the smaller rink and enthusiastic crowd that Memorial Coliseum features.
   "It is almost the same size as ours ," Strumm said. "We have that home-field advantage too. It's nice to put our players in that situation because there's no adjustment to be made (when players are called up)."

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