Bandits show Wings to East cellar

By Tom Hoffman

Based on the opening seven minutes and one second, it appeared that the Philadelphia Wings had found the antidote to save what was starting to look like a dreadful season. A quick 5-0 lead to chase the opposing goaltender was making the evening look very good. The Buffalo Bandits had other ideas though and used the momentum of Angus Goodleaf's solid play in relief of Mike Thompson and shut down the Wings en route to a 13-11 victory Saturday night at the Wachovia Center. A franchise low crowd of 7,723 was on hand to witness the Wings fall into sole possession of last place in the NLL's Eastern Conference.

Thompson was chased in the first quarter due to three goals from Kyle Wailes and two more from Geoff Snider. After Goodleaf entered the game, the Wings offense suddenly went cold while the Bandits still couldn't dent Brandon Miller until the 11 minute mark when Mark Steenhuis finally put one past the Wings goalie. Three more Bandits scores followed and the first quarter ended 5-4 Wings. The teams would trade off goals in the first five minutes of the second stanza before the Bandits Frank Resetarits scored with eight minutes until intermission to tie the game at seven.

Buffalo would gain the lead for the first time on a Kevin Dostie goal 3:39 into the third quarter. Wailes would get his fourth goal of the night to tie the game at eight but that would be that final tie of the night as Buffalo got a pair of tallies from Brett Bucktooth (one shorthanded and one on the powerplay) to take a 10-8 lead into the final 15 minutes. The fourth started good for the Wings as John Christmas (in his first game action of the 2010 season) and Geoff Snider sandwiched goals around one from Buffalo's John Tavares to make the game 11-10 Buffalo with 8:21 remaining in regulation. Goals from Tavares and ex-Wing Jon Harasym would ice the game for the Bandits, making Max Seibald's first NLL goal with 13 seconds remaining to play irrelevant.

While Bandits coach Darris Kilgour was happy to have Tavares back in the lineup for the first time this season after sitting due to injury, he credited the play of Goodleaf as the game's turning point.

"We didn't come out with focus, we didn't play well in fron of Mike (Thompson)," Kilgour said. "When Angus went in there guys buckled down a little more and Angus played a really good game so I thought that was a big turning point for us."

Wings coach Dave Huntley, while happy that his team's effort was better than their previous game in Toronto, also gave props to the Bandits backup keeper.

"Give credit to Angus, he came in and stopped the bleeding in a big way and they rallied behind him," Huntley said. "They started to find the net a little bit and we probably lost a little bit of composure."

Wailes paced the Wings with four goals and three assists while Geoff Snider scored a hat trick. Dan Teat and Mat Giles also chipped in with three assists for Philly while Brandon Miller made 36 saves. Buffalo had five players (Steenhuis, Tavares, Bucktooth, Dostie and Resetarits) score two goals to lead a balanced offense while Goodleaf made 37 saves in his relief effort.

The Wings season does not get any easier as Rochester, with John Grant Jr. and Gary Gait, comes to visit next Saturday.

2010 Wings Lacrosse Game 6 (vs. Buffalo 2-13-10)

By Tom Hoffman

Looking to end a three game losing streak and recover from a slow start, the Philadelphia Wings (1-4) face a team that is also struggling in the Buffalo Bandits (1-5). Faceoff this Saturday night is at 8 PM and can be seen on the NLL Network.

History

The Wings are 18-19 all time in regular season play against the Bandits. In Philadelphia the Wings have a record of 11-7 and have won the last two meetings at home. In 2009 the teams split their two matchups, the Bandits taking the season opener 15-11 January 3 at HSBC Arena and the Wings winning the February 6 meeting at Wachovia Center by a 13-11 score. Drew Westervelt scored six goals in the two games to lead the Wings while Mat Giles added five tallies. Buffalo was led by Mark Steenhuis with six goals. Rob Blasdell took the loss for the Wings in the opener while Brandon Miller started in the Philadelphia victory. Mike Thompson started both games in net for the Bandits.

Last Week

The Wings were competitive in the first quarter trailing 6-4 but after an early second quarter goal brought them within a goal the floor fell through and the Toronto Rock ran with a 19-11 victory last Friday at Air Canada Centre. Dan Teat (2G, 3A) and Kyle Wailes (1G, 4A) led all Wings scorers with five points. Brandon Miller started and surrendered 18 goals before being replace by Rob Blasdell in the fourth quarter. Buffalo faced the Rock at home on Saturday losing 14-10.

Notes

Former Bandits now suiting up for the Wings include Dan Teat and Jason Crosbie while Sean Greenhalgh, Ian Llord, Ken Montour and Jon Harasym are Bandits who one time played for the Wings.

Next Game

The Wings host the Rochester Knighthawks on February 20 at 7 PM.

Wings "Rocked" in ugly loss

By Tom Hoffman

Ugly losses seem to be the norm when the Wings visit Toronto's Air Canada Centre. And this game was really no exception. After a quick start, things went downhill very fast for Philadelphia as the Toronto Rock waltzed off with a 19-11 win in front of 10,256 fans Friday night.

The first quarter would end up being the highlight of the evening for the Wings. Philly would jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the game's first minute on goals from Dan Teat and Kyle Sweeney. After the Rock tied the game on scores by rookie Stephen LeBlanc and Scott Campbell, the Wings would regain the lead courtesy of Geoff Snider. That would be the last lead of the evening for Dave Huntley's squad as the Rock tallied four of the next five scores to take a 6-4 lead after the first 15.

Mat Giles would get the Wings (1-4) within a goal but the Rock would answer with six straight goals to take a 12-5 lead in the third quarter. Sweeney and Kyle Wailes would add goals to get the Wings within five but the Rock would continue to toy with and have their way against the Wings struggling defense and would not allow the Wings to come back and make a game of it this evening. After surrendering 18 goals on 53 shots, Brandon Miller was relieved and Rob Blasdell would see his first playing time of the 2010 season.

Kyle Sweeney and Dan Teat each scored twice for the Wings in the losing effort. With Saturday's home game with Orlando postponed due to an impending Winter Storm, the Wings will return home next weekend to face the Buffalo Bandits in what right now appears to shaping up to be a big divisional battle: one for the bottom of the NLL's Eastern Conference.

2010 Wings Lacrosse Game 5 (at Toronto 2-5-10) and Game 6 (vs Orlando 2-6-10)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings face their first weekend of back to back games in the 2010 season. The weekend begins with a visit to Toronto and the Air Canada Centre for a 7:30 faceoff against the Rock and concludes on Saturday evening at the Wachovia Center when the Wings play host to the Orlando Titans at 7 PM. Both games can be seen on the NLL Network.

History

The Wings are 9-17 all time in regular season play against Toronto, 8-16 since the franchise's move to Toronto from Hamilton, Ontario following the 1998 season. In Toronto, the Wings have a 2-9 record (2-8 at the Air Canada Centre). The Wings last visit to Toronto in 2008 was a victorious one, 15-14 on a late Athan Iannucci goal. Overall the Wings have won their last three meetings with the Rock including their only matchup in 2009, a 16-14 win in Philadelphia. The Wings lone regular season visit to Maple Leaf Gardens was a loss while their visit to Copps Coliseum in 1998 was an overtime victory over the then Ontario Raiders. Against Orlando the Wings are 4-5 including the 13-8 season opening loss on January 8 at Amway Arena. In Philadelphia the Wings and Titans have split four games.

Last Week

The Wings fell to the Boston Blazers 11-9 Saturday afternoon in Boston. Mat Giles scored a hat trick and Kevin Huntley added his first two NLL goals but the Wings never led in the game and couldn't overcome four goal games from Dan Dawson and Daryl Veltman. Toronto suffered their first loss of 2010, 16-8 at Rochester on Saturday while Orlando defeated the Knighthawks Friday night in Orlando by a 13-8 score.

At the quarter pole (last five seasons)

2010: 1-3
2009: 1-3
2008: 4-0
2007: 2-2
2006: 3-1

Next Game

The Wings are back at home on February 13 when they host the Buffalo Bandits.

Wings stumble in Boston

By Tom Hoffman

A fluky first goal against and an inconsistent offense spelled doom for the Wings this afternoon in Boston as they fell to 1-3 on the season losing 11-9 to the Boston Blazers at TD Garden.

The goal that set the tone for the game occurred in the game's first minute when after attempting to play a long pass from his crease, Wings goalie Brandon Miller had the ball get caught in the upper part of his right leg pad. As he turned around the ball came loose and rolled into an unguarded net to give Boston the early lead. The goal was credited to Dan Dawson, the first of four he would score on the day. The Wings trailed 3-0 before they tallied their first goal from Kyle Wailes, a score that was originally ruled no goal but overturned following a challenge by Wings coach Dave Huntley.

Mat Giles opened the second quarter scoring to pull the Wings within a goal at 3-2 but three Blazer scores opened up a 6-2 lead. The Wings would come back scoring three of the next four goals to go into halftime down 7-5, the last goal coming in the final seconds from Kevin Huntley, his first in the NLL in his fourth game. NLL goal number two for Huntley came in the opening minute of the third quarter to again pull Philly within a goal at 7-6. After the teams traded scores the Blazers got a pair of goals from Daryl Veltman (who also had four goals on the day) to lead 10-7 heading to the final 15 minutes. Bill McGlone scored in the first minute to make it 10-8 but neither team would score again until the final minute of play when Veltman would ice the game for the Blazers. Giles scored the game's final goal. The game would end with some chippy play after the Wings Geoff Snider went after Boston's Mitch Belisle.

The Wings will now head into a huge weekend of back to back games staring next Friday in Toronto before coming home to face the Orlando Titans the next night.