Too litle, too late for Wings as Knighthawks end their season

By Tom Hoffman
A furious fourth quarter rally made it a close game but would not be enough as the Philadelphia Wings fell to the Rochester Knighthawks 14-13 in the opening round of the National Lacrosse League playoffs Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

The Wings led the game 3-2 after the first quarter and were tied at five with 29 seconds to go before halftime when the wheels seemed to come off.  Craig Point gave Rochester a 6-5 lead with four seconds to play and started a six goal run for the home team.  Kevin Crowley ended the Knighthawks scoring spree but Stephen Keogh would give Rochester a 12-6 advantage heading into the final stanza.

The teams traded goals to open the fourth before the Wings added the next two courtesy of Ned Crotty and Crowley. But with 3:04 to play in regulation, Ryan Cousins scored for Rochester to seemingly lock up the game in Rochester's favor.  The Wings, though, showed some heart in the final minutes by scoring four goals over a span of 2:05, Brodie Merrill getting the first two (12:28 and 13:09), Crowley 16 seconds later and Dan Dawson with 27 seconds to play.  Jeff Reynolds would win the faceoff but the Wings could not get the goal to send the game to overtime.

Crowley led the Wings with a seven point night (4G, 3A) while Dan Dawson added a goal and five helpers.  But while they made it close, the fact is the Wings saw a promising season end with six straight losses and still no victories over Matt Vinc and the Knighthawks since 2009.

And that should gnaw at them as they start making preparations for 2013.