By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/29/08
Former Philadelphia Wings player and coach Tony Resch will be honored as a Hall of Fame inductee at halftime of tonight’s National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame game (8 p.m.)
between the host Wings and the New York Titans at the Wachovia Center.
The Class Of 2008 will be recognized in a special halftime ceremony featuring a video tribute and on-field recognition. This year’s Hall Of Fame inductees include Resch, San Jose Stealth General Manager Johnny Mouradian, former New York Saints goaltender Sal LoCascio, and media member Neil Stevens of the Canadian Press.
Resch is currently the athletic director at La Salle College High and an assistant coach for the Explorers lacrosse team.
“When you commit and dedicate as much time and effort as I did over the years it’s great to be recognized,” said Resch, who was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1998. “I had an incredible opportunity to work with some outstanding men, not only players but the staff and ownership.
“I see it as much of a group award as anything else because without my teammates as a player and the players I had as a coach, I certainly wouldn’t be receiving this wonderful honor.”
Resch played for two league champion teams with the Wings from 1988 to 1993, serving as team captain for three years, and was named to the Wings All-Time Team in 1996. Resch took over as Wings coach in 1994 and guided the team to four NLL titles, eight straight playoff berths, and a record of 59-27 during the regular season and 10-4 in the postseason.
Resch retired from the Wings in 2001, but returned in 2003 as an associate coach for the Colorado Mammoth. He then began coaching in the Major League Lacrosse with the Baltimore Bayhawks in 2003 and then became coach of the Philadelphia Barrage, leading the team to back-to-back league titles in 2006-07.
Resch was a member of three Iner-Ac championship teams at Penn Charter and earned Honorable Mention (1984) and Second-Team (1985) All-American honors at Yale. He also won a gold medal at the World Championships in Perth, Australia in 1990 as a member of Team USA.
Resch is the seventh former Wing to be inducted into the NLL Hall Of Fame. Wings’ owners Russ Cline and Chris Fritz were inducted as part of the league’s inaugural ceremonies in 2006 as were former players Gary and Paul Gait. In 2007, former player, coach, and general manager and current owner Mike French and the Wings all-time leading scorer Tom Marechek were both inducted.
The induction ceremony for the Class of 2008 was held Thursday at the Union League.
Leave a Reply