2012 Wings Lacrosse (2-4-12 vs. Toronto)

by Tom Hoffman

As they reach the season’s quarter point, the Philadelphia Wings will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host the defending NLL Champion Toronto Rock Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is at 7 PM and can be seen on the NLL Network at NLL.com and ESPN 3 and will be broadcast on Z88.9 (Burlington County College) and online at www.z889.org.

History

The Wings are 10-21 all time against the Rock including their initial season in Hamilton, Ontario in 1998. The Wings are 7-10 at home vs. Toronto. In 2011 the Rock won the season series 2-1. Toronto took the first two games winning 16-13 on February 26 in Philadelphia and 15-10 on March 4 in Toronto. The third matchup went to the Wings 12-11 on April 2 at the Wells Fargo Center after the Wings outscored Toronto 6-1 in the fourth quarter.

Last Game

Brendan Mundorf and Drew Westervelt combined for seven goals as the Wings defeated the Buffalo Bandits last Friday at Buffalo’s First Niagara Center. Dan Dawson had seven assists while Brandon Miller made 30 saves in net. The Wings trailed 9-7 entering the fourth quarter and scored the game’s last four goals while shutting out the Bandits over the last 9:13 of play.

The Opponent

The Rock won twice last weekend to improve to a 2-2 record in 2012. Last Friday they defeated the Rochester Knighthawks 13-11 and then went to Calgary on Saturday and defeated the Roughnecks in overtime 14-13 on a goal by Cam Woods. Former Wing Matt Roik (2006-2007) has an 11.89 GAA for the Rock while Garrett Billings (7-13-20) and Josh Sanderson (7-12-19) lead the Toronto offense

Familiar Faces

In addition to Roik, other former Wings on the Toronto roster include Jamie Rooney and Brenden Thenhaus, both played for the Wings in 2008. Current Wing Mike Hominuck played for the Rock in 2010.

Notes and Stuff

On March 5, 2008 the Wings sent Matt Roik to the Chicago Shamrox as part of a deal that brought Brandon Miller to the Wings. Roik served as the #3 goaltender (behind Bob Watson and Anthony Cosmo) in 2001 after being drafted in the 9th round in 1999 by Toronto.

On this date

This will be the first time the Wings have ever played on February 4 in their history.

Stats

The Wings record at the season quarter mark the last 5 years:

2011: 2-2
2010: 1-3
2009: 1-3
2008: 4-0
2007: 2-2

Next Game

The Wings will be home on February 12 when they host the Buffalo Bandits.