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Corpus Christi wins one for the kids

January 23, 2007 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release


More than 3,000 local area students made the trip to the American Bank Center on Tuesday morning for the 3rd Annual Cool School Day Game. After the Corpus Christi Rayz dramatic, intense 5-4 win over the Austin Ice Bats it's a field trip they won't soon forget. Corpus Christi scored the game's first four games and fought through a late Austin attack for their fifth straight win and franchise best sixth consecutive win at home. The Rayz beat Austin for the sixth time eight meetings this year and improved to 20-14-5. Corpus Christi increased their second place lead over Austin and Rio Grande Valley to ten points and inched within six points of the Laredo Bucks who visit Rocky Mountain on Tuesday night.

At 11:00am the Rayz showed no early morning lag. Rookie forward Adam Powell scored on a rebound chance at 6:00 to give the Rayz the 1-0 lead. The Rayz made it 2-0 at 15:10 when Nick Lindberg extended his goal streak to four games from the bottom of the slot. The Rayz outshot the Ice Bats 15-7 in the opening period.

The Rayz unloaded with more offense in the second period. Powell scored his second of the game on a beautiful setup from Kevin Watters at 5:56 of the period. Minutes later the Rayz made it 4-0 when Jason Baird received a drop pass from Derrick McIver and scored from the slot for his tenth goal of the year. The Rayz appeared to be running away with the game, but Austin came back to cut the deficit in half. Michael Tucciarone scored his tenth goal of the season at 11:37 and then he found Henry Kuster cutting back door on a power play at 16:47 to make the score 4-2 Rayz. The Rayz outshot the Bats 18-14 in the second frame.

In the third period, the Bats inched even closer when Julian Smith scored at 1:44 of the period to pull the Bats within one at 4-3. The Rayz recaptured their two goal advantage at 3:19 when Todd Paul scored on a power off a nice feed from Lindberg to make the score 5-3. The relentless Bats, however, jumped right back onto the scoreboard. At 4:08 Tucciarone scored his second of the night after the Rayz turned the puck over deep in their own zone. Yet, even with the Ice Bats charging, the Rayz were able to hold off a spirited attack and wrap up a home and home sweep of Austin.

The win for the Rayz was their season-high fifth in a row and seventh in their last nine games. With the victory, Corpus Christi also upped their home winning streak to six games - equaling a franchise record. Zelenewich made 31 saves on 35 shots for the win, improving to 8-6-2. The Ice Bats played their fifth in a row without a win and fell to 14-16-7. Tony Quesada made 38 saves on 43 shots and suffered the loss, remaining winless on the year and fell to 0-4. The Rayz outshot the Bats 43-35. The Rayz went 1-2 on the power play and the Bats went 1-5. corpus Christi improved to 2-1 all-time in Cool School Day Games.

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