2012 Wings Lacrosse (4-6-12 vs. Minnesota, 4-7-12 at Buffalo)

by Tom Hoffman

With a spot in the National Lacrosse league’s 2012 postseason already set, the Philadelphia Wings (7-5) will look to clinch a home playoff game this weekend, and possibly the NLL’s East Division title, when they host the Minnesota Swarm (5-7) Friday at the Wells Fargo Center before heading to Buffalo’s First Niagara Center to meet the Bandits (4-8) on Saturday night. Friday’s game starts at 7 PM and can be seen on the NLL Network at NLL.com and on the Comcast Network while Saturday’s match will be shown on the CBS Sports Network.

History

The Wings are 7-8 all time in regular season play against the Swarm, 4-3 at home. In 2011 the Wings lost their only meeting of the season with the Swarm 11-9 on April 16 at the Xcel Energy Center. The Wings are 22-22 in regular season play against Buffalo and are 10-12 in Buffalo (9-8 at First Niagara Center). The Wings are 2-0 in 2012 against Buffalo winning 13-10 on January 27 in Buffalo and 14-13 February 12 in Philadelphia.

Last Weekend

The Wings split a weekend set with the Colorado Mammoth with each team taking a win on the road. The Wings defeated Colorado on March 23 in Denver 13-12 on Brendan Mundorf’s goal with 3.7 seconds to play in regulation. The Mammoth needed overtime two days later in Philadelphia to escape with a 16-15 win. Adam Jones scored 9:38 into the extra session to give Colorado the win.

The Opponents

Minnesota has lost its last four games, including a pair last weekend. Last Friday the Swarm lost at home 15-10 to the Calgary Roughnecks then traveled to Edmonton on Saturday losing 9-8 in overtime to the Rush. Buffalo lost last Saturday at home 15-9 to the Toronto Rock and have lost their last two games overall.

Playoff scenarios

Per NLL.com, the Wings can clinch a home playoff game with wins in both games this weekend and a Rochester loss at Calgary on Friday night and can clinch the East Division title with the above scenario and a loss by Toronto on Saturday.

A familiar face

Wings F Mike Hominuck has played previously for both of this weekend’s opponents. Hominuck played for the Bandits in 2004 and 2005 while he suited up for the Swarm in 2007 and 2008.

Milestones within reach

Dan Dawson needs seven assists to set a new NLL record for assists in a season. He and Josh Sanderson set the current record of 74 assists in 2009.

Brendan Mundorf can set career highs with six goals (28 in 2009), three assists (34 in 2011) and five points (59 in 2009).

Drew Westervelt needs five goals to set a new season best (34 in 2009).

On this date

The Wings are 2-0 on April 6. In 1996 the Wings defeated the Boston Blazers 10-8 in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League playoffs and in 2008 defeated the Toronto Rock 11-9. On April 7 the Wings are 4-0. In 1989 the Wings won their first MILL title on this date defeating the New York Saints 11-10. In 1990 they defeated the Saints again, this time in a semi-final game 11-10. In 2001 the Wings defeated the Columbus Landsharks 17-7 and in 2007 defeated the New York Titans 20-8.

Next Game

After another week off, the Wings will travel to St. Paul, MN to meet the Swarm on April 21