Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/23/08

The Philadelphia Wings turned a hotly-contested first-place showdown into a rout by scoring 11 of 12 goals in the final period of Friday night’s National Lacrosse League contest against the Minnesota Swarm.

The result was an impressive 17-8 victory before 10,342 at the Wachovia Center. The victory moved the Wings (5-0) a half-game ahead of the Swarm (6-2) atop the East Division standings.

The Wings pumped 60 shots at two beleaguered Minnesota goalies, just two shy of the league record.

Athan Iannucci led the attack with six goals and one assist while Rob Van Beek had three goals and an assist and Jason Crosby added one goal and five assists. In all, eight players scored for the Wings and 14 players recorded assists.

Goalie Rob Blasdell made 32 saves on 40 shots and Geoff Snider had three assists and won 20 of 26 face-offs.

“It was a great defensive game, and we had some very good shots,” said Wings coach Dave Huntley. “It was a great team effort against a very strong team.”

Minnesota led 5-3 at halftime, but the Wings scored the first three goals of the third period to take their first lead of the game.

The Swarm seized the lead, 7-6, at the end of the third period but Philadelphia got goals from Van Beek, Jake Bergey and Iannucci in the first 47 seconds of the final period to take control.

Bergey finished with two goals and three assists while Jamie Rooney added two goals and two assists. Jim Borell (one assist), Pat Heim (one assist), and David Mitchell also scored for the Wings while Kyle Sweeney (Springfield-Delco) added two assists.