Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/5/11
The Philadelphia Wings (4-7) suffered another blow to their playoff hopes tonight, bowing to the Calgary Roughnecks, 13-7, at the Wells Fargo Center.
The game capped off a costly weekend for the Wings, who fell to both the Eastern and Western division leaders on back-to-back nights. Philadelphia finds itself in last place in the East Division with five games remaining.
Calgary forward Jeff Shatter led all scorers with eight points on two goals and six assists.
Though the Wings had their struggles, it was still a terrific night for the 9,604 fans in attendance. The Wings celebrated HEADstrong Night at the Wells Fargo Center in memory of former Hofstra lacrosse star Nick Colleluori.
Before tragically losing his life to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2006, Nick and his family would start the HEADstong Foundation, a non-profit committed to finding the cure for all blood cancers. The Wings donned special lime green jerseys courtesy of the Keating Corporation, which were auctioned after the game for charity.
The money raised from the auction will be donated to the foundation along with a portion of the evening’s ticket proceeds.
As for the game, scoring opportunities and forced turnovers played a key role in the contest, with Calgary forcing nine more team turnovers than Philadelphia and outshooting the Wings 53-38. The offensive pressure would ultimately force Philadelphia to pull all-star goalie Brandon Miller in favor of Ray Hodgkinson after seven straight Roughneck goals.
From there, the Wings would do their best to climb back into the game. Forwards Drew Westervelt and Athan Iannucci turned in strong performances, notching four and five points, respectively. Brendan Mundorf and Alex Turner would lead the team in goals with two each. Defenseman Dan Dawson also added a tally on Philadelphia’s first of the game.
The Wings are back in action March 26 when they set out on the road to take on the Rochester Knighthawks. The team returns to the Wells Fargo Center Saturday, April 2 to host the division leading Toronto Rock at 7 p.m.
