2012 Wings Lacrosse (Playoffs-1st Round at Rochester 5-4-12)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings (7-9) will look to put a poor finish to the 2012 National Lacrosse League regular season behind them as they make their first postseason appearance since 2008 with a return visit to Rochester's Blue Cross Arena and a matchup with the Knighthawks (7-9) on Friday night at 7:30 PM.  The game can be seen live on the NLL Network at NLL.com.

Playoff History

The Wings and Knighthawks have met three times in the postseason with the Wings holding a 2-1 advantage.  All three meetings have been in Philadelphia.  In 1995 the Wings won their fourth Major Indoor Lacrosse league title with a 15-14 overtime win at the Core States Spectrum.  In 1997 the Knighthawks left the Core States Center with a 15-13 victory in a MILL semi-final.  In 2001 the Wings earned a trip to the NLL title game with a 12-11 win.  The Wings are 16-10 in postseason play, 6-6 on the road.  Rochester is 12-13 in the playoffs, 6-2 at Blue Cross Arena.  Each team has lost its last two postseason games with the last playoff win for both teams occurring in the NLL Championship Game (Wings 2001, Rochester 2007).

Regular Season

The Knighthawks won all three meetings in 2012 and have won nine straight times over the Wings.  The teams opened the 2012 season in Philadelphia with Rochester winning a fight filled game 22-12.  On March 3 the Knighthawks returned to Philadelphia and won 11-8, outscoring the Wings 4-1 in the fourth quarter.  Last Saturday, the Knighthawks completed the season sweep with a 9-7 victory in Rochester.  Kevin Crowley led the Wings vs. Rochester this season with 17 points (6G, 11A).  Dan Dawson added 15 points (4G, 11A) while Brendan Mundorf added 12 points (6G, 6A).  Cody Jamieson and Mike Accursi led Rochester with 19 points (6G, 13 A each) while Stephen Keogh added 16 points (8G, 8A). 

Regular Season Leaders

Wings
Goals: Kevin Crowley and Drew Westervelt (36)
Assists: Dan Dawson (78)
Points: D. Dawson (103)
GAA: Brandon Miller (12.64)

Knighthawks
Goals: Cody Jamieson (36)
Assists: Jamieson (49)
Points: Jamieson (85)
GAA: Matt Vinc (12.21)

Notes

Five players (Brandon Miller, Drew Westervelt, Pat Heim, Tom Hajek, Taylor Wray) remain from the Wings last playoff appearance, a 14-12 loss to the Buffalo Bandits on May 2, 2008.  Three members of that Bandits squad (Pat McCready, Kyle Laverty and Mike Accursi) are now with Rochester.  That game was the only other time the Wings have played in the month of May.

The Wings last beat Matt Vinc 11-7 on April 4, 2009 at the Prudential Center when Vinc played for the New York Titans.  The Wings last victory over the Knighthawks came on January 10, 2009 at the Blue Cross Arena by a 16-13 score.

Next Game

A victory will put the Wings in the Eastern Division finals the weekend of May 11 against the winner of Saturday's matchup between the Buffalo Bandits and Toronto Rock.  The game would be in Toronto should the Rock win, in Philadelphia with a Bandits victory.

A loss and the next game will be the 2013 season opener.