Wings knock Bandits from ranks of undefeated

By Tom Hoffman

It was almost a year ago when the Philadelphia Wings went into Buffalo with a perfect 6-0 record and left with their first loss of the season. Last night it was the Bandits who entered the Wachovia Center with an unblemished record (5-0) and for a while it appeared that would stay intact. However, a former Bandit who has been in the fans doghouse here would put an end to Buffalo's perfect start. A.J. Shannon had a hand in all five Wings tallies in the fourth quarter, including the game winning goal as the Wings defeated the defending champs 13-11 in front of a crowd of 10,506 on Friday night.

"I thought we played pretty well," Wings coach Dave Huntley said. "I thought we didn't execute some things in the first half but I thought we were real good in the second half."

The Wings got off to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter on goals from David Mitchell and Rob Van Beek and got solid work in net from Brandon Miller before Buffalo's Mark Steenhuis scored with a tenth of a second to play in the first. The Wings would open the scoring in the second before Buffalo scored the next five goals to take a 6-3 lead. Benson Erwin's first NLL goal and Mat Giles first of the game would get the Wings within one before the teams traded goals to give the Bandits a 7-6 halftime lead. The goal trading kept up in the third and the Bandits increased their lead to 10-8 early in the fourth. That's when the Shannon highlight reel started, first with assists on the next three goals (two from Giles to complete the hat trick and one from Drew Westervelt to finish his hat trick). After the Bandits Cody Jacobs tied the game at 11, Shannon then scord the game's final two goals to give the Wings the hard earned win. Afterwards, Shannon, who had sat out the last three games, felt the time off was helpful.

"It game me time to clear my mind. I kind of needed that to come back playing with more confidence," Shannon said. "It's more of a confidence game with me than a physical game."

While the offense seemed to struggle with their passing, the defense did a decent job of containing the Bandit offense, holding John Tavares and Mark Steenhuis to a combined three goals. Brandon Miller was sharp in net with a 34 save performance. The Wings will get a day to rest up before heading to Newark, NJ to face the Titans tomorrow night.

Wings 2009 Game 5 (vs Buffalo 2-6-09) and Game 6 (at New York 2-8-09)

By Tom Hoffman

The Philadelphia Wings (1-3) return to action with a busy weekend of divisional games. Friday night the Wings host the defending champion Buffalo Bandits (5-0) at 8 PM. After a night of rest, the Wings will travel up the New Jersey Turnpike to Newark's Prudential Center for the first of three meetings with the New York Titans, faceoff at 7 PM. Both games can be seen for free on NLL.com

History

This will be the Wings second meeting in 2009 with Buffalo, having lost the season opener 15-11 at HSBC Arena on January 3rd. All time, the Wings are 10-7 in Philadelphia against the Bandits in regular season play. Against New York, Philadelphia has a 3-2 record, 1-1 on the road. When the two teams take the floor in Newark it will be the third different arena to host a Titans home game with the Wings (2007 at Nassau Coliseum, 2008 at Trenton's Sovereign Bank Arena). Last season the Wings went 1-2 against New York, winning 16-12 February 29th at the Wachovia Center before losing 20-13 March 22nd in Trenton and 11-8 on April 19th in Philadelphia.

Last Games

The Wings were swept in a back to back weekend series with the expansion Boston Blazers. Boston gained their first NLL victory with a 13-11 decision at the Wachovia Center on January 23rd then completed the weekend sweep with an 11-7 victory the net night in Boston. Mat Giles scored six goals in the two games to lead the Wings while Drew Westervelt added four. Brandon Miller made 45 saves in the Friday game while Rob Blasdell stopped 38 shots in the rematch.

All Star Voting

Voting for the NLL All-Star Game, to be held March 6th at Denver's Pepsi Center, began on Monday, February 2nd. Six Wings are on the ballot: Rob Blasdell, Merrick Thomson, Kyle Sweeney, Drew Westervelt, Geoff Snider and Mat Giles). Fan voting ends on February 16th.

Leaders

Goals: Mat Giles and Drew Westervelt - 9

Assists: Kyle Wailes -10

Points: Giles - 16

Saves: Brandon Miller - 90

Next Game

The Wings will host the Boston Blazers on February 13th.

Special ticket offers for Wings visits to New York

By Tom Hoffman

For Wings fans who might be looking to attend the game against the New York Titans on February 8th at the Prudential Center, the Titans are offering a special ticket deal for that evening's game. A buy one, get one free offer is being made available for the Wings Sunday night visit. To take advantage of the offer, fans can either call the Titans at 1-888-8-Titans or go to ticketmaster.com and enter the promotional code 2for1. The offer is good until Saturday, February 7.

In addition, the New Jersey Ironmen of the Xtreme Soccer League are offering a deal for both Wings appearances (February 8th and April 4th). For $20, you can purchase a lower level ticket to the Ironmen's games those afternoons (vs. Chicago and Milwaukee) and use your ticket stub that night for a $10 ticket to the Titans-Wings game. For ticket information, call 1-800-IRONMEN.

Wings sluggish in home opener loss

By Tom Hoffman

9,462 Philadelphia Wings fanatics were pumped up as they awaited the Wings home opener last night at the Wachovia Center. Afterwards it was hard to tell who was flatter, the fans or the Wings offense. The Wings struggled all evening as they fell to the expansion Boston Blazers 13-11 while also seeing Athan Iannucci go down to a possible re-injured knee early in the first quarter.

"Give credit to Boston, they played with a lot of energy," Wings coach Dave Huntley said. "They just played better than we did."

Even with Iannucci out on the floor the offense still seemed to struggle. The Wings didn't get on the board until the 11:07 mark of the first on a David Mitchell score. At that point it was Daryl Veltman 3, Wings 0 as the Blazers rookie was living up to his selection as the NLL's top pick in the entry draft. Philly trailed 4-1 after the first but quickly tied the game at 4 with Mitchell's second tally of the night sandwiched by scores from Merrick Thomson and Drew Westervelt. Boston would score three of the next four to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

After Brett Queener scored 31 seconds into the third to give the Blazers an 8-5 lead, the Wings scored the next four to take their only lead of the night. Jordan Levine won't forget his first NLL goal as he picked up Anthony Cosmo's rebound of a Shawn Nadelen shot to put Philadelphia up 9-8. Boston got the the last two goals of the third to lead 10-9 and Mitch Belisle only needed 10 seconds to make the score 11-9 in the fourth. In the third Belisle had drawn the ire of the Wings Geoff Snider with a submarine hit in front of the Blazers bench that touched off a small fracas. The Wings would tie the game one last time when Mat Giles scored his third goal of the night followed by Westervelt's third of the game just 29 seconds later. Boston's Gary Bining would score the game winner at 7:15 of the fourth (his third goal of the night) before Veltman finished the scoring and sent the Wings fans running to the exits.

For the Wings, there is very little time to dwell on the loss as they face the Blazers again this evening in Boston. Huntley feels the team will respond.

"I think we'll bounce back," Huntley said. "I don't think anybody was pleased with their performance tonight."

One Wing who did play well was G Brandon Miller, who made 45 saves in the cage. Westervelt and Giles each had three goals and two assists to lead the Wings while Veltman (4G, 3A) and Dan Dawson (7 assists) led the Blazers. For former Wing and current Blazers coach Tom Ryan, it was his first win as an NLL coach in one of his favorite places to play.

"It's definitely fun to be back here," Ryan said. "It feels like home. It's just good to get a win anyway you can."

Wings 2009 Game 3 (vs Boston 1-23-09) and Game 4 (at Boston 1-24-09)

By Tom Hoffman

After a week off, the Philadelphia Wings (1-1) will get ready for a home and home weekend with the expansion Boston Blazers (0-2). Friday night the teams meet in Philadelphia, with faceoff at the Wachovia Center at 8 PM. On Saturday the scene shifts to Boston and the TD Banknorth Garden for a 7:30 PM faceoff. Both games can be seen on NLL.com.

History

While Friday's game will be the first meeting with the new Blazers, the Wings had a good history against the original Blazers franchise. Including the postseason, the Wings had an 11-3 record against the franchise that started as the New England Blazers (1989-1991) playing in Worcester, MA before moving to Boston. The Wings defeated the Blazers in 1990 for the franchise's second Major Indoor Lacrosse League title. The team played from 1992 to 1995 at Boston Garden before moving to TD Banknorth Garden, then called the Fleet Center, for the 1996 and 1997 seasons before the team was shutdown prior to the 1998 season. The Wings made one appearance at TD Banknorth, defeating the Blazers 12-11 on January 11, 1997.

Last Game

Behind solid goaltending from Brandon Miller and a balanced offense, the Wings earned their first win of the 2009 season by defeating the Rochester Knighthawks 16-13 at Blue Cross Arena on January 10th. The offense was spurred by the Thomson's, Merrick with four goals and an assist while rookie Sean added three goals in being named as the NLL Rookie of the Week. Kyle Wailes led the Wings with seven points (one goal, six assists) whiel Kyle Sweeney (2G, 2A) and David Mitchell (1G, 3A) each added four points. Miller made 36 saves and shut out the Hawks fo the games final 10:03. The highlight though was Geoff Snider's KO of Rochester's Troy Bonterre in the game's final minute. Boston opened their season with a pair of losses to the New York Titans, 19-14 at the Prudential Center in Newark on January 10th and 13-9 last Saturday in Boston.

Home Openers

The Wings are 13-9 all time in their home openers winning last year 19-11 over Chicago to stop a four game home opener losing streak. At the Wachovia Center the Wings are just 6-6. The original Blazers were the Wings home opening opponent three times (1989, 1991 and 1992), with the Wings winning two of the three matchups.

Dude's return (and others)

Tom Ryan, who played for the Wings from 2000 to 2003, returns to Philadelphia as the coach of the Blazers. Ryan played for the original Blazers from 1995 to 1997. Other former Wings on the Boston roster include Brenden Thenhaus (2007) and Bryan Bendig (2005) while Jake Bergey is currently on the Blazers protected player list after being selected in the expansion draft.

Next Game

Following this weekend and another week off, the Wings will return to action on February 6th when they host the Buffalo Bandits.