Corpus Christi Online - / IceRays' road woes continue with 4-2 loss to El Paso

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Thursday, Dec. 24, 1998
IceRays' road woes continue with 4-2 loss to El Paso
From staff and correspondent reports

   EL PASO - The Corpus Christi IceRays once again found the road to be a lonely place Wednesday night in the Western Professional Hockey League.
   El Paso scored three goals in a 4-minute, 43-second span of the first period and the Buzzards (17-13-2, 36 points) soared to their fifth consecutive victory, 4-2, against the IceRays at the El Paso Coliseum.
   The Central Division leading IceRays (18-11-2, 38 points) have just one victory in their last eight road outings and dropped to 7-7-2 away from Memorial Coliseum. Corpus Christi is 4-2 in its last six games and still maintains a four-point lead against second-place Waco (16-13-2, 34 points) and Fort Worth (16-15-2, 34 points) in the Central Division standings.
   The two-time defending league champion Buzzards recorded their second victory in as many tries against Corpus Christi behind a strong finish to the first period. The Buzzards outshot the IceRays, 14-8, during the pivotal period.
   El Paso defenseman Trent Eigner broke a scoreless tie nearly 14 minutes into play with a power-play goal from just inside the blue line.
   Buzzards center Corey Heon and forward Jason Welch also scored against IceRays goalie Matt DelGuidice, before he was replaced by Scott Barber after the first period. Welch's short-handed goal gave El Paso a three-goal cushion 1:25 before the first intermission.
   Corpus Christi left wing Lorne Toews scored the first of his two goals on a nifty shot five minutes into the second frame. Toews retrieved teammate Regan Harper's missed shot that had caromed off the backboard and slipped a waist-high attempt through the legs of Buzzards goalie Francois Bourbeau and into the net.
   El Paso points leader Bill Trew intercepted a pass from IceRays defenseman Shaun Peet 26 seconds into the final period and scored past Barber to make the score 4-1.
   Toews netted his 16th goal of the season and eighth of the month 5:41 later on a rebound attempt to cut the deficit in half. On the play, IceRays center Chris Robertson extended his team-leading point total to 46 with his second assist of the night.
   Corpus Christi's depth was hampered during the second period Wednesday, when winger Dave Shute received a game misconduct penalty for boarding just minutes after Toews' first goal. That was significant considering the teams combined for 144 penalty minutes during play.

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