Buxmont Indoor Lacrosse Tournament

The Buxmont Indoor Sports Center is one of the most premier indoor sports facilities in the tri-state region. Located in Hatfield, PA, just off State Route 309, it houses many lacrosse related activities, including Wings practices, pick-up lacrosse leagues and was the home of the 2010 Fann Cup.

To find out more about the 1st Annual Bucksmont Indoor Lacrosse Tournament, this Sunday, March 3rd, please visit PlayBISC.com.

Wings Lacrosse 2013 (3-1-13 at Buffalo)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings (4-3) will look to extend their win streak to three games when they visit the Buffalo Bandits on Friday night to reach the midpoint of their 2013 National Lacrosse League schedule.  Game time at the First Niagara Center is at 7:30 PM and the game can be seen live at www.youtube.com/thelacrossenetwork.

History

The Wings are 23-24 against the Bandits in regular season play, 10-14 in Buffalo (9-10 at First Niagara Center).  The teams have met twice this season, each team winning on its home floor.   The Wings were 13-8 winners in Philadelphia on January 11 while the Bandits eked out a 14-13 win on January 26. 

Last Weekend

The Wings swept back to back games last weekend starting with a 10-8 win over the Rochester Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena last Saturday.  After trailing 4-0 after the first quarter the Wings defense tightened up allowing just four goals over that last 45 minutes of play.  Kevin Crowley, Drew Westervelt and Kevin Buchanan each had a pair of goals.  Sunday the Wings completed their sweep with a 14-12 win over the Colorado Mammoth at the Wells Fargo Center.  Westervelt added four more goals in this game while Paul Rabil and Kevin Ross tallied hat tricks.  Brandon Miller made 84 saves combined last weekend to pick up both victories.     

Buffalo was idle last weekend after defeating Rochester 10-6 on February 16 at the Blue Cross Arena.  The Bandits will face the Toronto Rock on Thursday night at the Air Canada Centre prior to hosting the Wings.

Trivia

This player was the Bandits #1 pick in the 1992 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Entry Draft (held prior to the 1993 season) and was later traded to the Wings making his pro debut in 1994.  Name this player?    

On this date

The Wings are 1-1 on March 1 having defeated the Columbus Landsharks 13-12 at the First Union Center in 2003, and falling to the Buffalo Bandits 21-12 in 2008 at the HSBC Arena.

Wings leaders vs. Buffalo in 2013

Goals: 4 each for Kevin Crowley, Jordan Hall, Kevin Ross and Kevin Buchanan.

Assists: Hall (9)

Points: Hall (13)

Saves: Brandon Miller (81)

Answer

Buffalo’s first round pick in the 1992 draft was Tom “Hollywood” Marechek.  Marechek holds the Wings franchise records for all time goals (399), assists (374) and points (773) and was inducted into the NLL’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

Next Game

The Wings will return to action on March 9 when they host Athan Iannucci and the Washington Stealth.

Weekend a sweeping success for Wings

By Tom Hoffman

Following two ugly losses at home the Philadelphia Wings were looking for some good fortune as they headed into a back to back weekend facing the Rochester Knighthawks and Colorado Mammoth.  And after getting past a rough first quarter in Rochester in which they trailed 4-0, the Wings were able to put a solid game together and came back to defeat the defending champion Knighthawks 10-8 on Saturday before heading home and completing a weekend sweep by derailing the Mammoth 14-12 overcoming yet another slow start.

Going into Rochester to face a team they had not beaten in their last 11 tries (including last season’s playoff matchup) going back to 2009; the first quarter deficit was one that would’ve buried some recent Wings squads.  But on this night the Wings would dominate the rest of the way, outscoring the Knighthawks 10-4 over the final 45 minutes of play and getting stellar play in goal from Brandon Miller.  Getting this win over the Knighthawks was a big deal to the Wings.

“To get that monkey off our back and to know we can get a win off of them, that’s huge for our confidence down the stretch,” Wings forward Kevin Ross said following Sunday’s game.

And Sunday’s win over Colorado followed the pattern of Saturday’s game as the Wings, after scoring the game’s first goal, fell behind by 5-2 late in the first quarter to continue what has been a season long trend of slow starts since their opening night win against the Buffalo Bandits. 

“It takes us a little bit to get going,” Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said.

Once the Wings got going in Sunday’s game, they took a 9-7 lead into halftime and would not give up the lead en route to a well earned win that put them back over the .500 mark.   Having a big weekend for the Wings was Drew Westervelt, who followed a four point night (2 goals, 2 assists) in Rochester with a four goal and five point day against Colorado.  Kevin Crowley had an 11 point weekend while Brandon Miller picked up after his slow start in Rochester to have a strong effort against the Mammoth.  The Wings were also helped by two roster moves made during the week to provide some veteran stability to a young team when they added Mike McLellan to the forward ranks and also brought back defenseman Kyle Sweeney.

For the second time this season the Wings will take a two game win streak into Buffalo when the face the Bandits on Friday night.  And not have to worry should they get off to another slow start.

“We gotta realize that if they score early there’s a lot of game, a long way to go,” Ross said.  “Realize that it’s a 60 minute game and it doesn’t matter if you’re losing in the first quarter.  It’s what happens at the end of the game that matters.”