Seventh Heaven: Tornado top 'Rays for 7th straight win
October 23, 2010 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
The Texas Tornado won their 7th straight game and remained in 1st place in the NAHL's South Division with a hard fought 2-1 win in Corpus Christi on Saturday night. The Tornado outshot the âRays 36-21 and the game featured three separate fights.
The Tornado wasted little time getting on the scoreboard first early in the game as their first power play netted their first goal as Nate Sliwinski sniped one past IceRays goaltender Marco Wieser. Assists went to Josh Royston and Alex Thieda. Although, there was no scoring the rest of the period, the Tornado dominated play, outshooting Corpus Christi 16-4 in the frame. Tornado starting goaltender Jimmy Kruger was barely tested in the period, which was all Tornado.
Corpus Christi came out with some jump to start the 2nd period, which included trying to amp up the physical part of the game. The tactic worked as Texas' Rodney Lalonde and the IceRays Brandon Marshall engaged in fisticuffs about five minutes into the period, with Lalonde landing the better of the punches. The Tornado power play went stagnant after the first goal including several chances in the 2nd period. More rough play ensued with another fight as Michael Zagari got the best of Tyler Parker, seeing both players ejected from the game after fighting after the whistle. The Tornado would increase their lead to two after a face-off win by J.D. Howard, who was back in the line-up after missing four games, won a face-off back to Marc Biggs who snapped a shot past Wieser with just :11 seconds remaining in the period.
The 3rd period started with more fisticuffs, again with the Tornado getting the better of the fight as Mico Solarzano knocked out the IceRays Cody Milligan with a straight right to the face. However, the IceRays would chip into the lead as a dump in was steered into the corner by Tornado goalie Jimmy Kruger. The loose puck was picked up by Beau Walker, who shot the puck from behind the goal line and it deflected off of Kruger into the back of the net to make the score 2-1. The goal fired up the âRays and Kruger had to make several big 3rd period saves, including a penalty shot stop on Mike Benedict. The Tornado would hang on for the 2-1 win.
Tonight's game marked the first for newly acquired defenseman Robbie Heath, who was picked up this week in a trade from the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL. The Tornado and the IceRays will face-off against one another once again on Sunday, October 24 at 3:05pm at the AmericanBank Center in Corpus Christi. The game can be watched and seen live at www.tornadohockey.com or nahl.fasthockey.com.
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