Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 2/28/13
From press Releases
The Philadelphia Wings hit the road to battle the Buffalo Bandits for sole possession of second place in the East division at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The 4-3 Wings meet the Bandits, also 4-3, for the third and final time in the regular season after splitting the first two games. The Wings won 13-8 at the Wells Fargo Center to open the season in January and fell just two weeks later, 14-13 in Buffalo.
Momentum for the Wings is high after coming off a weekend sweep of Rochester and Colorado. Philadelphia will look to build on the two wins, with a balanced attack that saw seven different players score goals on Sunday.
“We’re doing less talking about what we should be doing and actually going out and just executing,” said Wings forward Drew Westervelt. “We’re making it a point to be playing a notch higher and playing with more intensity.”
The Wings defense looks to be back in the swing of things as well, led by goaltender Brandon Miller. The 13-year league veteran was for the second time this season, named the league’s defensive player of the week after recording two wins and 84 saves for the Wings last weekend.
Buffalo is 1-2 since last playing the Wings in January and will play the Toronto Rock in an atypical Thursday night game in the NLL before returning home to meet the Wings Friday. This season Buffalo has been led by rookie Dhane Smith whose 11 goals and nine assists are among the tops in the league for rookies. Sixteen-year league veteran Shawn Williams leads the way with 24 assists for the Bandits.
The Wings will return home to Wells Fargo Center the following week to take on the Washington Stealth on Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m.
Tickets for the Wings March 9 game at Wells Fargo Center and all Wings 2013 home games are available by phone at 215-389-WING or online at www.WingsLAX.com.
Wings goalie Miller named Defensive Player of the Week
Philadelphia Wings goalie Brandon Miller has been named Defensive Player of the Week by the National Lacrosse League (NLL) for the second time this season.
Miller and the Wings picked up back-to-back wins over the weekend to improve to 4-3 on the season. In the two games, the veteran net minder recorded 84 saves on 104 shots for an 81% save rate.
Miller currently has 261 saves through seven games and an 11.29 goals against average, which puts him in the top five in the league.
