IceRays Complete Sweep of Wranglers Saturday Night, 6-3
Published on January 3, 2026 under North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Corpus Christi IceRays News Release
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX - The Corpus Christi IceRays (15-15-3) sweep the Amarillo Wranglers (14-17-1) by a final score of 6-3 Saturday night at the Hilliard Center. Chase Nehring and Andrej Paricka collect four-point nights in the victory.
The IceRays picked up where they left off Friday night dominating possession and peppering Wranglers goalie Charles-Antoine Girard making his second consecutive start. Unlike the previous night, Corpus Christi broke through in the opening 10 minutes on a sweet pass from Chase Nehring to Andrej Paricka crashing the net and potting his 12th of the season for a 1-0 lead. The Poprad, Slovakia, native now has goals in four straight games and leads the IceRays with 24 points. Amarillo finished the frame with just six shots but made the most of their best look in the period executing on an odd man rush to tie the game at 1-1 off the stick of Jake Thornton. Both sides traded chances the second half of the period, but the game stayed knotted at one after the first.
A pair of roughing minors put both teams down a man and the IceRays converted for the second consecutive night at 4-on-4 to take a 2-1 lead. Johnny Maruna was denied on a stuff attempt by Girard, but the rebound was left right in front for Nehring trailing the play to bury his 12th of the season to restore the one goal lead. The Wranglers went to their first of six power plays following the go-ahead but failed to convert. A second opportunity arose minutes later but it was Corpus Christi that struck shorthanded on a breakaway from Nick Sinani to make it 3-1. Sinani's goal snapped a 21-game goalless drought for the Michigan native. Before the end of the frame, Corpus Christi found themselves in more penalty trouble setting up a lengthy Wranglers 5-on-3. IceRays goaltender Xander Miceli sprang into action making multiple keys stops to keep Amarillo off the scoresheet in the period.
Corpus Christi opened the third period on a power play and Johnny Maruna snapped home his fifth power play goal of the season for the IceRays largest lead of the night at 4-1. After dominating most of the night, a few turnovers came back to haunt Corpus Christi as the Wranglers struck twice to cut the lead to 4-3 with under 10 minutes remaining. Caden Hegarty started the comeback attempt with a power play goal followed by Ty Izadi's fourth of the season against Corpus Christi. The IceRays held on to a 4-3 lead into the late stages of the third forcing Amarillo to pull Girard. Justin Thibault and Paricka added the empty net goals to seal off the sweep on home ice by a final score of 6-3.
NEXT SERIES The Corpus Christi IceRays wrap up their eight game homestand against the Shreveport Mudbugs on Friday, January 9, and Saturday, January 10, at the Hilliard Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. both nights. Saturday is Faith and Family night! You can also catch the game on NAHLtv or Retro Radio CC.
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