Wings come back to defeat Titans in scrimmage

By Tom Hoffman

In a spirited pre-season scrimmage at the Center Circle in Rahway, NJ, the Philadelphia Wings used a solid second half to defeat the New York Titans 13-11 Saturday evening. While the game did take place at the Titans practice facility, the group of fans there gave it a definite pro-Wings feel.

"I thought it was a good game by both teams," Wings coach Dave Huntley said. "I was real pleased with a lot of the new stuff we're trying to do. A lot of our new guys did a good job."

Wings fans worried about about the losses on offense (Jake Bergey, Jamie Rooney and Jason Crosbie), as well as how Athan Iannucci will be after his recovery from knee surgery, had to impressed with the play from two returnees. After sitting out last season due to visa issues, Kyle Wailes played like he hadn't missed a beat, putting up four goals. Drew Westervelt added three tallies, including a shorthanded no look, back to the net roll shot that obviously surprised Titans goalie Matt Vinc early in the second quarter while the Wings were killing off a five minute major to Taylor Wray. Wailes's play definitely caught his coach's eye.

"It was good to see Kyle Wailes back," Huntley said. "Obviously he's a real good player and he played terrific. It didn't look like he hadn't played lacrosse for a year."

Also scoring for the Wings were Merrick Thomson (two goals), A.J. Shannon, Kyle Sweeney, Geoff Snider and Taylor Wray. Rob Blasdell played 55:05 and gave up 10 goals in a solid effort. Rookie free agent Mickey Hover finished the game for Philadelphia. Marc Burton had a hat trick for New York while Mike McLellan, Jamie Rooney and Jordan Hall each added two scores. Titans coach Ed Comeau used four goaltenders in the scrimmage (Matt Vinc, Erik Miller, Kurtis Wagar and Angus Dineley). Missing from the Wings lineup last night were Rob Van Beek, Brandon Miller, Sean Thomson and Jim Borell. Rookies who impressed were Jordan Levine and Matt Bocklet.

The Wings trailed 4-3 after the first quarter and 8-6 at halftime before breaking the game open with a 4-0 third. The teams traded goals in the fourth with the Wray icing the game with an empty netter with under three seconds to play. For the Wings this will be their lone pre-season action as they prepare for the regular season opener January 3 in Buffalo against the defending champion Bandits.