Local Sports

Friday, Nov. 6, 1998

IceRays sting Ice Bats, 4-2

CC claims 4th straight WPHL win

By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   Mike Tomlinson couldn't believe it. And he wasn't about to keep his mouth shut about it, either.
   Just 1 minute, 36 seconds after Corpus Christi took a three-goal lead into the second intermission of Thursday's Western Professional Hockey League, the IceRays suddenly found themselves clinging to a one-goal lead.
   After the second Austin goal, Tomlinson pounded his stick into the ice, rushed over to the Corpus Christi bench and began screaming at his teammates. He went up the bench. He down the bench. Back and forth he went, all the time flapping his gums.
   Tomlinson's tactics worked, as Corpus Christi reasserted itself and chased the Ice Bats out of the Igloo with a 4-2 victory.
   "I'm the type of player who can fill any role a coach needs," Tomlinson said. "Tonight, I was the hitter and the spark plug."
   Corpus Christi had outshot Austin, 21-1, in the second period, prompting coach Taylor Hall to tell his team that the period might have been the IceRays best of the season. The defense kept the puck out of the IceRays zone; the offense kept it in the Ice Bats zone.
   Then Corpus Christi flinched for 1:36, and a 3-0 laugher turned into a 3-2 nail-biter, with all momentum swaying toward Austin.
   "We came out flat," said Tomlinson, who had two assists on the night. "I just tried to fire everyone up. I told them not to take the game for granted. To go out there and hit, hit, hit."
   The victory gave the IceRays its fourth consecutive win, and the coliseum saw its eighth straight sellout.
   IceRays forward Pavel Evstigneev scored his 14th goal of the year with 5:30 to play in the game to give Corpus Christi the two-goal advantage after Austin had scored the two early third-period goals to draw within a goal of the IceRays, 3-2.
   Evstigneev's 14 goals are the most in the Western Professional Hockey League. David Shute scored a goal and had an assist.
   Corpus Christi is now 9-3 - 2-1 against the Ice Bats - and 4-1 against the WPHL Central Division, which the IceRays lead. Austin fell to 3-7-2; the Ice Bats have lost eight of their last 10 games. Austin and Corpus Christi will play in Austin Saturday. Before that, however, the IceRays travel to Waco for a game at 7 p.m. today.
   David Shute had a goal and an assist - the IceRays third line accounted for four points on the night.
   "It was nice to see our line chip in," he said. "That second period was great. Everyone on Coxe's line can hold the puck for a half hour, and when you keep the puck down in their end, they can't score."
   The Ice Bats put only eight shots on goal through the first 33 minutes of play, while the IceRays fired 26 shots during the same stretch. For the game, Corpus Christi doubled Austin's shots on goal, 42-21.
   The IceRays took a 2-0 lead when Geoff Bumstead slammed home a one-timer from his line mate, Lorne Toews, with 5:24 to play in the second period. Corpus Christi's Chris Robertson, the WPHL Player of the Month for October, stole the puck from Austin's Andy Ross at mid-ice and dumped the puck into the left corner where Toews dug it out and slid it to a waiting Bumstead.
   The goal was Bumstead's sixth of the season.
   Less than three minutes later, Shute scored his fifth goal of the year to give the IceRays a 3-0 advantage. Tomlinson assisted on the Shute goal.
   Corpus Christi scored the game's first goal for the 10th time in 12 games. Tomlinson attempted a wrap-around shot from behind the net, but Austin goalie David Lemanowicz pushed the shot into the slot. Bob Quinell then controlled the puck and blasted a slap shot over the right shoulder of Lemanowicz.
   Tomlinson and Shute were credited with assists on the Quinell goal.
   Newly signed Corpus Christi goalie Jason Genik started in goal for the first time. He stopped 19 shots.
   

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