Wings punch playoff ticket with OT win

By Tom Hoffman

Heading into their game Saturday with the Toronto Rock, the Philadelphia Wings knew they needed to win or have the Buffalo Bandits lose to clinch a spot in the National Lacrosse League’s 2013 postseason.  Jordan Hall made sure that Wings fans would not have to stay up late to watch the Bandits in Washington against the Stealth when he scored his second goal of the day just 61 seconds into overtime to give the Wings a thrilling 10-9 victory over the Rock before 7,437 at Wells Fargo Center.

The game started as many have this season with the Rock taking a 2-0 lead on goals from Josh Sanderson.  Kevin Buchanan got the Wings on the board with 1:59 left in the first and Hall tied the game 54 seconds into the second quarter before the Rock added another pair of scores to go up 4-2.  The Wings kept themselves in the game as goals from Mike Manley and Buchanan tied the game at halftime.  Each side got a goal in the third quarter and the game would go to the final 15 of regulation even at five.

Just 21 seconds into the fourth the Wings took their first lead of the night courtesy of Paul Rabil.  Just as quickly though Toronto would tie and reclaim the lead when Blaine Manning and Sanderson tallied goals just 15 second apart.  Kyle Hartzell, off a feed from Ned Crotty, tied the game again before a breakaway goal by the Rock’s Damon Edwards put them back up at 8-7.  Kevin Crowley and Brendan Mundorf would give the Wings a 9-8 lead and the defense looked like they would be able to hold the one goal lead.  But with 1:12 left in regulation the Wings were called for too many men on the floor and as this occurred with under two minutes left in the game Toronto was awarded a penalty shot and Kasey Beirnes did not miss.  Neither team could score in the game’s final minute thus bringing on the extra time. After winning the faceoff the Rock were kept from scoring setting up the heroics of Hall on the Wings Fan Appreciation Day.

Mundorf led the Wings with a pair of goals and four assists while Buchanan and Hall each scored twice.  The Wings held the league’s leading scorer, Garrett Billings, to a pair of assists.  Brandon Miller stopped 48 saves and picked up his 4,000^th save in the victory.  The Wings can finish at 8-8 if they can win next weekend at Washington and could earn a home playoff game depending on how the Rochester Knighthawks finish their season.  As it is, the Wings can relax tonight knowing they have their ticket to the dance.  

Wings Lacrosse 2013 (4-13-13 vs. Toronto)

by Tom Hoffman

Having ended their five game losing streak, the Philadelphia Wings (6-8) will look add another win and clinch a spot in the 2013 National Lacrosse League playoffs when they host the Toronto Rock (10-5) Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center.  Game time is at 4:30 PM and the game can be seen live on the CBS Sports Network.

History

The Wings are 13-23 in regular season play against the Rock with a 7-12 record at home.  In 2013 the teams have met twice with the Wings coming back to take an 8-7 victory on January 19 in Toronto and Toronto earning a 13-8 win on March 16 in Philadelphia.    

Last Weekend

The Wings split back to back games losing Saturday to the Rochester Knighthawks 14-7 in Rochester and defeating the Minnesota Swarm 15-13 in Philadelphia on Sunday.  Kevin Crowley and Drew Westervelt led the offense in Sunday’s win and each contributed a goal in the game at Rochester.  Brandon Miller made both starts in net and made 72 saves combined.

Toronto clinched first place in the Eastern Division with a 10-9 win at home against Rochester on Sunday.

Trivia

When the Wings defeated Toronto 9-8 to win the 2001 NLL Championship this player scored three goals for the Wings.  Name the player?

Playoff scenarios

Per NLL.com the Wings can clinch a playoff spot this weekend with a win over Toronto OR a Buffalo loss to the Washington Stealth.

On this date

The Wings are 1-1 on April 13.  In 1990 they defeated the New England Blazers 17-9 at the Centrum in Worcester to win their second straight Major Indoor Lacrosse League title.  In 2007 they lost to the Minnesota Swarm 11-8 at the Wachovia Center. 

Wings record when

Scoring the first goal: 2-0

Leading after the 1^st Qtr: 2-0

Leading at halftime: 2-0

Leading after the 3^rd Qtr: 3-0

Tied after the 1^st Qtr: 0-2

Tied at halftime: 0-2

Tied after the 3^rd Qtr: 1-0

Answer

Mark Millon had the hat trick helping the Wings to their sixth indoor lacrosse title.

Next Game

The Wings will conclude regular season play on April 20 when they travel to Everett, WA to take on the Washington Stealth.

Wings earn split of weekend, end losing streak

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings needed a sense of urgency after losing their last five games.  Sunday they may have found it when they survived a poor second quarter and came back to defeat the Minnesota Swarm 15-13.  After Saturday night’s 14-7 loss on the road to the Rochester Knighthawks it would have been easy for the Wings to pack it in but after defeating the Swarm they may end up looking back on Sunday as the day that possibly saved their season.

“I think that’s probably one of the most emotional wins that we’ve had as long as I’ve been here,” Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said following the win Sunday.  Wings forward Kevin Crowley put it another way.

“Definitely feels like a weight’s been lifted off our shoulders,” Crowley said.

After going 5-3 through the season’s first half, the Wings had come up empty in the second half of the season.  Slow starts seemed to doom this team but that would not be the case against the Swarm as the Wings lead after the first quarter for only the second time this season.  However the Swarm took over the second stanza much the same way they owned the Wings in the second half in St. Paul just over a week ago outscoring the Wings 6-1 and scoring one of the ugliest goals possible when Jay Card fired from the hockey blue line with just under two seconds to play in the half and managed to put the shot past Wings goalie Brandon Miller to give the Swarm an 8-6 halftime lead and send bad vibes through the 6,861 in attendance.

On this day though, the second half would be owned by the Wings.  Crowley’s fourth straight goal would bring the Wings to within a goal before Drew Westervelt tied the game.  Paul Rabil gave the Wings the lead back before Minnesota scored two of the next three goals to send the game into the final 15 minutes tied at 10.  The Swarm would lead 12-11 with less than seven minutes to play before the Wings went on a game winning four goal run highlighted by two more Westervelt scores and goals from two unlikely sources, Kyle Hartzell (3^rd of the season) and the first National Lacrosse League goal for Mike Manley.  Minnesota’s Kiel Matisz scored with 3:39 left in regulation and :25 after the goal the Swarm had a golden opportunity to get within a goal after Rabil was sent to the penalty box for holding.  But the Wings, who had given up six extra man goals to the Swarm, would kill off the penalty and hold on for the victory.

Crowley and Westervelt each tallied four goals and four assists Sunday and for Crowley, it felt a lot better than Saturday did in Rochester when he hit almost as many posts.

“I’m tired of hitting posts,” Crowley said.

Miller made 37 saves in net and had a solid second half after letting up the long distance goal right before halftime.  With two games remaining, the Wings would likely have to win at least one to secure a spot in the 2013 playoffs while a pair of wins (and some help) could earn the Wings their first home postseason match since 2002.