Tornado Dominate from Start to Finish in 5-1 Win Over IceRays
March 10, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
Three, 3rd period goals fueled the Texas Tornado to a dominating 5-1 on Thursday in Corpus Christi against the IceRays. Mico Solorzano had two goals, Jimmy Murray had a goal and two assists and goaltender Jimmy Kruger made 26 saves in the win.
The Tornado dominated the majority of the 1st period outshooting the IceRays 15-8. The first good chance for Texas came off the stick of Justin Jones, who was hooked on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. On the penalty shot, Jones beat ¬ËRays goaltender Pheonix Copley, but the shot rang off the right post and settled underneath Copley ¬â¢s pad. The Tornado would keep the pressure on and would strike on their second power play of the opening period, as a shot from the point by Tyler Rostenkowski was saved by Copley after a redirect from Marc Biggs, but the loose rebound was poked home by Jimmy Murray for a 1-0 Tornado lead that they would take to the lockerroom.
As the 2nd period began, Tornado goaltender Jimmy Kruger would heat up, making several saves to keep the Tornado ahead. With eight minutes to go, the Tornado would increase the lead as Rostenkowski again would set up a goal, this time finding Murray down the left wing for a 2 on 1. Murray raced in with Mico Solorzano and slid the puck on the back post to Solorzano who tapped the puck in for a 2-0 Tornado lead. The lead would be cut in half after Tornado head coach Tony Curtale was given back-to-back bench minor penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct. On the second of those power plays for the ¬ËRays a cross-ice pass from Mychal Monteith to Seth Blair saw Blair score his first NAHL goal, as he one-timed a drive past a helpless Kruger. The ¬ËRays outshot the Tornado 11-9 in the 2nd period thanks in large part to four consecutive power plays.
The Tornado wasted little time in the 3rd period increasing the lead back to two, as on the power play Ralfs Freibergs scored his 7th goal of the season on a blast with assists to Jack Prince and Nate Sliwinski. Things got heated after that as Seth Johnson dropped the gloves with the IceRays Sam Cheraso, while Justin Jones tangled with Kyle Hughes. After things settled down, it was more offense from the Tornado as Jimmy Murray registered his third point of the night, sliding a pass to linemate Justin Jones for a one-time blast and a 4-1 Tornado lead, with Tom Rizzardo also assisting on the goal. The Tornado dominance continued as Marc Biggs got the puck to the front of the net. After two saves by Copley, Mico Solorzano parked himself in front to poke home a loose rebound for his second goal of the game and third in the last two games as the Tornado lead increased to 5-1. Kruger held the fort the rest of the way out stopping 26 of 27 shots for the game, as the Tornado outshot the IceRays 16-8 in the 3rd period and 40-27 for the game.
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