Brahmas Hand Icerays 4 – 2 Defeat
By Kirk Estes
Photo Courtesy of David Dudich: Roman Uchyn led the Brahmas with 2G -1A in their 4 – 2 win over the Corpus Christi Icerays.
The Lone Star Brahmas were looking to rebound from their disappointing loss on Friday night as they took to the NYTEX ice Saturday against the Corpus Christi Icerays. The Brahmas were five points behind the Icerays in the NAHL South Division standings entering the contest.
Just 1:21 into the first the Icerays jumped out to an early lead when Anthony Mousseau took the puck behind the Brahmas’ cage and tried to reverse direction only to run into a pursuing Corpus Christi forward and turned the puck over. The Icerays went for a wrap around on the near post, but TJ Black had it locked down. The rebound went off his pad and immediately onto the tape of Jake Durflinger who deposited it into the open net.
At the 4:54 mark, the Brahmas pulled even on the power play after a couple of beautiful passes. Conner Enciso started it with a pass from the near half wall to Thomas Aldworth deep on the far side. Aldworth hit Kellen Wasell cutting to the mouth of the goal for the tip in past Ben Myers.
It took the Icerays only 32 seconds to retake the lead on a break away by Joe Chitwood whose backhander went off Matt Lison’s stick and hopped over Black’s left shoulder.
At the 9:01 mark of the second, Lone Star picked up another power play goal running the same basic play as on the previous power play goal. Sebastian Vidmar sent a pass from the far boards to Mousseau at the near point. Mousseau’s pass was right onto the tape of Roman Uchyn cutting in from the off side for the goal.
Lison gave the Brahmas the lead early in the third at 5:18 with a third power play goal. The tally came thanks to strong work along the boards by Vidmar and Uchyn. They battled the Icerays deep behind Myers’ cage before Vidmar fed it to Lison at the top of the crease. Lison’s wrister was behind Myers before he knew what was happening. With 2:02 remaining the Brahmas took the puck from their own end off a faceoff following a timeout. Vidmar sent the puck down the near board with Lison chasing it down deep in the Corpus Christi defensive zone. Lison sent a centering pass back out front to Uchyn streaking down the middle for a shot over Myers and a 4 – 2 lead. When the puck dropped on the ensuing faceoff the Icerays’ net was empty. Following a Brahmas’ icing the Icerays used their timeout to set things up for the draw coming to Black’s left, but the Brahmas’ defense clamped down and turned aside everything thrown their way with the extra attacker.
The night belonged to Sebastian Vidmar who not only logged three assists, but also provided excellent play in the areas that do not show up on the score sheet. Vidmar played a very physical game all evening and won numerous puck battles to give the Brahmas control in the offensive zone. His knack for protecting the puck was on display throughout the contest.
Corpus Christi won the shots on goal battle 27 – 20. The Brahmas power play has suddenly come alive going 3 – 8 after a 2 – 4 performance last night. Lone Star had only 22 power play goals in 51 games entering the weekend series. The penalty kill held the Icerays scoreless on seven attempts.
Elsewhere Around the NAHL South Division
The Road Runners got a second period goal from Yu Hikosaka at the 0:23 mark. The Killer Bees came back with a marker at 2:29 of the third to knot the score, but Jake Kamrass and Tyler Poulsen added goals for Topeka to claim the 3 – 1 win. PJ Bridges faced only 18 shots to record the victory.
The Wildcats picked up a shootout win over the Jackalopes to exact a bit of revenge for last night’s 5 – 1 loss. After falling behind in the first, Evan Okeley pulled Wichita Falls even with just 56 seconds to go in the period. Nick Farmer’s goal at 3:51 of the second, gave the Wildcats a lead that they held until just 4:16 to go in regulation. A scoreless overtime set up the shootout where Rudy Junda and Josh Haverstrom scored while Chase Munroe denied 4 of 5 Odessa shooters for the win.
Current NAHL South Division Standings
TEAM |
GP
W
L
OTL
PTS
PCT
xAmarillo
50
36
12
2
74
0.740
xTopeka
50
32
13
5
69
0.690
xRio Grande
51
28
16
7
63
0.618
Wichita Falls
49
26
20
3
55
0.561
Corpus Christi
53
17
26
10
44
0.415
Lone Star
53
19
31
3
41
0.387
Odessa
52
14
33
5
33
0.317
x – Clinched Playoff Berth