The Huntley Files

By- Kevin M. Neibauer

The Philadelphia Wings outlasted the Rochester Knighthawks, 15-14. Philadelphia had a six goal lead and withstood the greatness of John Grant to improve to 2-0 on the 2008 Season.

As always, Coach Dave Huntley was candid and upfront with his post-game comments. Huntley is quickly showing that he is a very astute lacrosse coach, who despite his knowledge, will admit to his shortcomings.

Dave and Kevin M. Neibauer sat down a discussed the heart-stopping victory after the game on Friday.

KMN- "Rochester just has no quit in them...."
DH-"They showed why they are champions, I was pretty proud of the way our kids handled their push, and came out with a win. I thought when we got to play "normal" lacrosse we were really good. We played as much 4 on 4 ...It was a great win, I am really proud."


KMN-"You've got another really tough team coming up with Buffalo..."
DH-"Yeah, that's the great thing with the league, win or lose, you have to get ready for another good team next week. Buffalo is similar to Rochester.Getting back to Rochester, You saw tonight why John Grant Jr. is the best player in the sport. He took that team on his back in the fourth quarter. Fortunately, we don't have to face them again for a long while."


KMN-"Fourth quarter, big lead, you had to know the push was coming, explain....?"
DH-"The first ten minutes of the fourth quarter, we were pretty good. We were up six before they began their rush. We all knew their run was coming, and it did, and like I said, Junior (Grant) showed why he has been the best player in Lacrosse for the last three of four years, and you got to witness that tonight. We took his best shot and came out with a win.
I'm pretty proud of our guys."


KMN-"Is it a testament to his ability that he can be shut down for three quarters and then bust out for five in the fourth?"
DH-"I thought we did a great job defending him, but, it's a sixty minute game, he played the whole game honest...he's just a great player and we have all the respect in the world for him."


KMN-"The second quarter, things were starting to unravel, how much maturity did the team show?"
DH-"That's a great question, when a team beats a Championship team like that, holds on at the end and we come into the locker room and our guys weren't happy with the way they played, as a coach, I feel great about that, thats a testament to our guys, we are a young team, but our veterans are bringing a good attitude with them. They stepped up tonight, the first half, their were way too many penalties from my view.
We came back in (the lockerroom) and gathered ourselves and played a great third quarter and a great first ten minutes of the last quarter."


KMN-"Second quarter, everything started to go Rochester's way, but you guys came out of the half with a lead. How big of a lift was that?"
DH-"In sort of a strange way, its kind of how the game ended. They got some goals at the end that were kind of....I just call them "goofy" goals.
I think we played great "real" lacrosse, were not real great at goofy lacrosse. Bottom line, I don't know if I want to practice "goofy" lacrosse.
I like our team playing great lacrosse."


KMN-"Overview of tonight, you said your guys were not happy with their performance, why?"
DH-"We have a great defense, we have a great goalie, and we got good possessions. I thought Rochester's face-off play tonight was, well... I thought they were well prepared for us tonight. I don't think we were very well prepared for them. From what I was looking at, I think I took for granted our personnel on face-offs and I think they (Rochester), countered our personnel advantage with a good scheme, and from a coaching perspective, I don't think I gave our guys a good scheme, but, our players will get better, and hopefully I'll get better."


KMN-"The five minute call on Van Beek, for my money, far and away the worst call that I have ever seen, the guys really stepped up, Johnny Christmas came down the floor killed off twenty seconds and drew a call."
DH-"I've been around this league for twenty one years, since the beginning, so I've seen a lot of bad calls, so, that wasn't the worst. Believe it or not, I've seen plenty worse......."


KMN-"1:32 left, you scored, then a timeout, what was the thinking involved?"
DH-"We knew there was another push coming, and we needed to make sure we had the right personnel. In that case, it made a big difference. Plus, at that time, I thought it was the right time to take a time-out, they just kept coming, so we needed to slow things down a bit. Again, I can't say enough about Junior, but I can't say enough about our guys either, we took their best shot, we won."


KMN-"Geoff Snider seems to be a little off his game, is his temper a problem?"
DH-"I loved coaching Geoff in the World Championships in 2006, when I had the opportunity to take this job, certainly Geoff being on the team was a very exciting thing for me. I have all the confidence in the World in Geoff, it's a long season, and I know for a fact that when you add it all up, Geoff will have a lot more positives than negatives. He's a warrior, he'll handle it."


KMN-"Buffalo next week, another battle?"
DH-"They are all battles, but this is a different kind of battle. Our guys played one kind of team last week, a different kind of team this week, we''ll play a different kind of team next week. Buffalo is similar to Rochester in the insity factor. We'll see how it goes."


Thanks to Dave Huntley and the Wings


So, 2-0 to start the season. A young team that may be a record offensive juggernaut. Athan Iannuci is emerging as a rising star. Merrick Thompson is apparently as good as advertised. Thomsom and Iannuci are pure scorers.

The re-emergence of fan favorite, Jake Bergey is a nice complement to the young guns, after two games, Bergey is becoming the catalyst for the offense, Bergey appears to be healthy for the first time in a few seasons. If he can continue to produce at the current level, it will be quite a season in South Philly.

Kyle Sweeney has started to blossom into a very good defenseman. The defense and transition team is hustling and finding ways to compensate for the height and weight disadvantage they face.

John Christmas and Rob Van Beek have been better than anyone expected.

Rob Blasdell has not had to be fantastic, merely steady. He has allowed a few bad goals, but he has been making that save....the one that a team needs most. Right after a two or three goal run, when the opposition is trying to get back into things. Matt Roik couldn't do it consistantly, jury is still out on Blasdell.

Bottom line, 2-0 is a very good position to be in. But, everything is not perfect. A lot of missed assignments allowed Rochester back in the game.
That can be fixed.

Geoff Snider is struggling mightily. When a player goes into a slump,he presses too much. Much the same for Snider, he is trying to right the ship, but is not passing the ball which is drawing a double team.

Again, that can and will be fixed. Snider is one the most entertaining players in the game. He is simply finding his niche. His temper needs to be kept in check. It is obvious that the officials are keeping an eye on Snider.

This team has no major unfixable weakness. With Rochester, a major monkey has been removed from the back of the Wings.

Youth and inexperience have not hurt and in fact, they seem to be mature beyond their years.

Lindsay Sanderson and Dave Huntley are a great team. They know what it takes to win.

The biggest change has been the hustle of the team. Players are getting on and off the floor much quicker than in previous years.

I know, its only two games.....but, 2-0 is a whole lot better than 0-2. Buffalo is on the horizon, then a few weeks off.

Maybe the "mainstream" media will eventually take this team serious and start to give some space in the Daily rags to a first place club.

I don't want to get carried away, lord knows we have had our hearts broken before, but the Philadelphia Wings are a vastly improved team from last season.


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