By Tom Hoffman
For the second consecutive postseason, the Philadelphia Wings saw their hopes for a 7th indoor lacrosse title end at the hands of the Rochester Knighthawks. Unlike last season when the Wings used a late flurry of goals to make the score close they played the type of game they needed to play against Rochester, one of solid defense. Except this year the Wings could’ve used the late scoring as the sticks fell silent in the final stanza and Rochester got just enough offense to take a 10-8 decision in Saturday’s National Lacrosse League Eastern Division Semi Final at Blue Cross Arena.
For the Wings it was yet another slow start as Rochester jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 15 minutes. The Philly offense came alive in the 2nd quarter scoring four of the next five goals to tie the game at four apiece. Former Wing Dan Dawson would give the Knighthawks a 6-4 halftime lead with his third and fourth goals of the half. The third quarter saw the Wings Kevin Crowley outscore Rochester 2-1 setting up Brendan Mundorf’s game tying goal just 21 seconds into the final quarter. The Wings could not, however, get that go ahead goal and with 10 seconds left in a cross checking penalty to Ned Crotty Rochester would take the lead for good as Craig Point hit for the extra man goal. Goals by Paul Dawson and Mike Accursi were the final blows though Jeff Reynolds added the final score of the season for the Wings with seven seconds left to play.
For the Wings it was a disappointing end to a season that started with some promise and a 2-0 start. And now they embark on another offseason of trying to figure out how to rejoin the NLL elite after losing their fourth straight playoff game since winning the 2001 NLL Championship.
