2011 Wings Lacrosse (1-22-11 at Colorado)

By Tom Hoffman

Off to their first 0-2 start since 2007, the Philadelphia Wings will once again seek their first win of the 2011 National Lacrosse League season Saturday January 22 when they visit the Colorado Mammoth at 9 PM at Denver’s Pepsi Center. The game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com and will also be shown live on the Comcast Network.

History

The Wings are 27-13 against the Colorado franchise including their previous seasons in Baltimore (1987-1999), Pittsburgh (2000) and Washington (2001-2002). Since the team’s move to Denver the Wings are 5-3 overall and 2-2 at the Pepsi Center having won their last two visits to the Mile High City. In 2010 the lone meeting between the two teams was in Philadelphia with the Mammoth heading home with a 12-11 overtime win on a power play goal by Alex Gajic just 2:19 into the extra session. Colorado forced the overtime with two goals 54 seconds apart late in the fourth quarter after a four goal Philadelphia run had given the Wings an 11-9 lead.

Trivia

This season is not only the 25th season of Wings Lacrosse; it is also the 10th anniversary of the Wings last championship victory in 2001. To celebrate both, this column will feature a trivia question each week and will attempt to tie in both the 2001 champions, as well as that week’s opponent. This week’s question is:

Name the members of the Wings 2001 team who also helped the Mammoth to the 2006 NLL championship? The answer will be at the end of the preview.

Last Weekend

The Wings fell to the Buffalo Bandits 9-6 last Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Brandon Miller made 41 saves but the Wings offense again stumbled. Athan Iannucci and Drew Westervelt each scored twice for the Wings. The Mammoth won on the road 8-7 against the Calgary Roughnecks Saturday evening. Cliff Smith scored with three seconds remaining in regulation to give Colorado the victory. Chris Levis made 54 saves in goal for the Mammoth.

Notes

The Wings last 0-3 start occurred in 1999 (final record that season was 5-7).

The last time the Wings played on January 22 they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Crossefire 16-15 at Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena in 2000. Overall the Wings are 1-2 on this date (lost in 1999 at home against the Rochester Knighthawks 15-12 and defeated the Boston Blazers 12-9 in 1993 at Boston Garden).

The Wings are 11-13 in road openers. Their last opening win away from Philadelphia occurred in 2008 over Colorado 15-13.

Next games

The Wings head to Boston for a rematch with the Boston Blazers on January 28 opening a home and home weekend that concludes at the Wells Fargo Center on January 29 against Colorado.

Trivia Answer

Jamie Hanford, Jay Jalbert and David Stilley were part of the Wings squad who defeated the Toronto Rock 9-8 to take home the NLL Champion’s Cup in 2001. All three also helped lead the Mammoth to the 2006 NLL title over Buffalo.