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Sunday, Jan. 3, 1999
Jackalopes hold off CC, 5-3
Flair for rally falls short this time
By MARK BUTTON
Staff Writer

   This time they paid for it.
   The IceRays recent flair for dramatics caught up with them Saturday night, as they were unable to rally late against Odessa. Twice Corpus Christi scored game-tying goals in the contest, but failed to knot the score a third time to force overtime, and the Jackalopes won going away, 5-3.
   As has been Corpus Christi's tendency of late, the IceRays fell behind by a couple goals, came back with two of its own, fell behind again and rallied to tie the game a second time. But a late Odessa slap shot from Mike Ross and a empty-net goal in the final minute were too much for the home team to overcome.
   Corpus Christi, which rallied to defeat Fort Worth in overtime Thurday, fell to 19-13-3. Odessa, last in the Western Professional Hockey League's Western Division, improved to 16-18-3.
   IceRays coach Taylor Hall held a closed-door meeting with the team following the game and was not available for comment.
   Odessa coach Joe Clark, who coached Corpus Christi goalie Matt DelGudice at the University of Maine, said he had a feeling the game would be closely contested.
   "It was just a classic, wasn't it?" Clark said. "We have a lot of respect for Corpus Christi. They have an excellent team, but we knew we had a great defensive team. It was going to be a matter of who got the last bounce."
   Ryan Equale and Jamie Dunn each recorded four points for Odessa, which jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period, scoring twice inside two minutes.
   The first Jackalopes goal came from Equale, assisted by Dunn, at the 8:34 mark. Jackalopes forward Charlie Lawson sneaked another shot past DelGuidice 1:59 later to give Odessa a 2-0 lead.
   Through 14 minutes, Odessa had outshot the IceRays, 14-3. DelGuidice made a number of outstanding saves during that stretch. However, the two that got through were not the toughest shots he faced.
   "I think he was victimized by a lot of knucklers and some bad bounces," Clark said of DelGuidice.
   After digging the two-goal hole for itself, Corpus Christi went to work on offense.
   IceRays forward Lorne Toews continued his scoring spree late in the first period, as the left wing scored his 10th goal in 13 games. Just seconds after a Corpus Christi goal was disallowed because referee Ron Morgan blew play dead in front of the Odessa goal, Chris Robertson and Geoff Bumstead set up Toews for a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.
   Corpus Christi then tied the score, 2-2, with a power-play goal 30 seconds into the second period scored by Robertson from Bumstead and Toews.
   Odessa took the lead again, however, as Dunn beat DelGuidice, sticking the puck in the top right corner of the net, also known as "top shelf." As the teams skated off the ice at the end of 40 minutes, Odessa led, 3-2.
   Corpus Christi's Mike Tomlinson tied the game, 3-3, when he flung a wrister past Billy Pye on a breakaway. The IceRays successfully killed a bench minor penalty and caught Odessa pressing in the Corpus Christi zone. IceRays forward Pavel Evstigneev flipped the puck out of the zone to Tomlinson who skated in on Pye and blew the shot over his glove hand 5:51 into the third period.
   Odessa took the lead for the third and final time, 4-3, when forward Mike Ross blasted a slap shot by DelGuidice from the IceRays' blue line following a faceoff with 4:40 to play in the game.
   Fans were treated to one of the longest and most entertaining fights of the season. Late in the second, Odessa forward Rob Lukacs squared off against the IceRays' bruising forward Brad Wingfield. Between some clutching and grabbing, the two exchanged right hooks and jabs for about a full minute. Wingfield finally forced Lukacs to the ice, ending the altercation.
   IceCubes
   SHARAPOV INJURY: IceRays forward Vadim Sharapov sprained his left knee in the final minute of the second period. "I don't think it's anything serious," he said. IceRays trainer Maurice Sicard applied ice to the injured knee of the skilled Russian staker, who did not return to the game.
   LADY TIGERS IN THE IGLOO: Carroll High School basketball players Shaye Yoakum and Kendall Brooks were among the fans in attendance Saturday. Both Lady Tigers were starters on last year's Carroll girls team that advanced to the state tournament in Austin.
   "I don't even know anything about hockey, but I'm having a great time," Brooks said. Carroll is 2-0 in district play. The Lady Tigers face Ray on Tuesday.
   Staff Writer Mark Button can be reached at 886-3613, through e-mail at buttonm@scripps.com or on the internet at www. caller.com.

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