By Anthony Caruso
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/17/14

In 2012, Dan Dawson was a key member of the Philadelphia Wings.

Then, he was shipped away to the Rochester Knighthawks in a blockbuster deal in December 2012. In exchange for Dawson and his brother, Paul, the Wings picked up Paul Rabil, Jordan Hall, Joel White and Robbie Campbell. The teams also swapped drafted picks.

Both Dawson brothers returned to Philadelphia to face their former team, while Hall was doing the same for the Wings. White and Campbell are no longer with the Wings, while Rabil is sitting out the season to prepare for the World Championships in Denver, Colorado this July.

On Sunday Dan Dawson scored three goals, had two assists and two loose balls to help the Knighthawks claim an 11-7 NLL victory over the struggling Wings, who fell to 3-9.

He was the second leading scorer for the Knighthawks. His teammate Craig Point finished with four points with an assist and two loose balls.

“They have so many threats on offense,” said Wings forward Kevin Crowley. “Any one player could go off for them. With Pointer (Craig Point) back in the lineup and Dan having a good game, any given day others can step up. Hats off to their offense. They are tough to beat with their offensive weapons.”

With Dawson and Point combining for seven goals, Joe Walters, Cody Jamieson and Brad Self scored as well. Walters scored two goals, while Jamieson and Self had a goal each.

Hall had two goals for the Wings against his former team with five loose balls. Crowley led the Wings with three goals, who also had four loose balls.

“To be shut out in the first half then be able to score three goals in the second half was nice,” said Crowley. “You don’t really acknowledge it, because we were down and our next goal was so important. I also wanted to set up my teammates, while putting myself in the best position to score.”

Ryan Ward and Brodie Merrill had the other two goals for the Wings.

The Wings were without one of their goal scores in this game. Garrett Thul missed the game with an injury.

“He was banged up,” said Wings head coach Blaine Harrison. “He has a rib injury, and we wanted him to rest for next week. We have Toronto in our next game, and we’re going to need him against them. We are going to need all of our horses healthy for next week.”