Wings use OT to get to 3-0 start

By Tom Hoffman

This was a game that in past seasons the Wings would have found a way to send themselves and the fans home frustrated, a fourth quarter collapse that would lead to a gut wrenching loss. Maybe now that is on its way to becoming a thing of the past. After John Tavares gave Buffalo a 14-13 lead with 2:55 left in regulation this game could've gone the wrong way, as it has so often the last few season for the Wings. But a Jamie Rooney goal 62 seconds later would force overtime and after Geoff Snider's 21st faceoff win of the evening, a rejuvenated Jake Bergey would score his fourth goal of the night and send the Wings faithful home to celebrate the team's first 3-0 start since 1997 with a 15-14 victory over the Bandits in front of a loud 10,542 fans at the Wachovia Center Saturday evening.

It did not take the Wings long to get on the board when Snider won the opening faceoff and put a shot past Bandits keeper Mike Thompson just five seconds into the game. The Wings would score two of the next three goals before a three goal Bandits run would put the Wings behind in a game for the first time this season. Buffalo led 5-4 after the first before the Wings played a solid second quarter outscoring the Bandits 5-0 and getting 13 saves from Rob Blasdell.

The third was, like the first, 5-4 in favor of Buffalo but the Wings would give the Bandits a gift goal here when Blasdell came out of his net to try and clear a ground ball. Instead he whiffed on the play giving Clay Hill a wide open net to deposit his first goal of the season. Cory Bomberry's goal late in the third would start a five goal run for Buffalo that looked to be a winning one until Rooney's late heroics set the stage for Bergey's game winner.

Athan Iannucci led the Wings with a seven point night (four goals, three assists) while Bergey's four goals and OT winner earned him game MVP honors. Mark Steenhuis and Kevin Dostie each scored four times for Buffalo while John Tavares (two goals) and Cory Bomberry (one goal) each added five assists to their totals. Blasdell (48 saves) and Thompson (37 saves) were kept busy in their respective nets.

The Wings will now have almost three weeks off before their next game, which will be their first road trip of the 2008 season. And easy it will not be as they head to Denver to square off with the Mammoth on February 15th.

Wings Game #3 (vs. Buffalo 1-26-08)

By Tom Hoffman

In the final game of a three game homestand to open the 2008 National Lacrosse League season, the Philadelphia Wings (2-0) will look to reach their first 3-0 start since 1997 when they host the Buffalo Bandits (2-1) Saturday night. Faceoff at the Wachovia Center is at 7:30 PM.

History

The Wings are 16-17 in regular season play against the Bandits after losing both matchups in 2007. Buffalo won at the Wachovia Center on February 17 by a score of 12-8 then completed the sweep a week later in Buffalo with 13-12 win on a Kevin Dostie goal with :08 remaining in regulation. The Wings are 9-7 at home in regular season play versus Buffalo. John Tavares led the Bandits with seven goals and seven assists last season against the Wings while Kyle Wailes and Athan Iannucci each scored four goals for the Wings. Geoff Snider won 42 of 45 faceoffs in the two meetings.

Last Week

The Wings improved to 2-0 by holding on for a 15-14 win over Rochester last Friday evening. Athan Iannucci's five goal performance helped the Wings withstand a furious comeback by the defending champion Knighthawks in the final quarter. Iannucci also added three assists while Jake Bergey tallied four goals and three assists and rookie Merrick Thomson chipped in with three assists. Rob Blasdell made 37 saves in the winning effort.

Stats and Stuff

The last time the Wings won three straight home games was in 2003 in what would become a five game winning streak.

Through the opening two games, the Wings have yet to trail during any part of the game.

Brenden Thenhaus and Jason Crosbie were in Bandits jerseys for both games against the Wings while Ian Llord suited up for the Wings. Thenhaus was picked up in the Boston/Arizona dispersal draft while Llord and Crosbie were part of the three way deal involving the Calgary Roughnecks. Sean Greenhalgh, who was also dealt to the Bandits in that transaction, is out with a knee injury.

Quotes from the Rochester game

Athan Iannucci on the team's offense: "I like the style of play that (Coach Dave) Huntley's got us playing. We seem to have good chemistry out there, myself, (Merrick) Thomson, (Jake) Bergey, (Jason) Crosbie. Everyone played great tonight."

Iannucci on the Knighthawks: "They are the defending champs. They're a powerhouse team. If you let them get enough shots and enough odd-man opportunities they're going to bury them. and that's exactly what they did. We've got to get better closing the door."

Rob Blasdell: "It's a learning thing in this dressing room right now. I'm just glad we were able to win that one. The guys bailed me out, I didn't play real well in he fourth. Then again, that's the best offensive team in the league. I think we held our own. We'll take the win out of this and learn from everything that we did right and did wrong and move on."

Wings Coach Dave Huntley: "I was pretty proud of how we handled their (Rochester's) push and came out with a win. It's a lot for our guys to be proud of. It was a great learning experience."

Next game

The Wings will get a near three week break after this game. The team will return to action in their first road game when the visit Denver to take on the Mammoth on February 15.

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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