By Anthony Caruso III
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 12/15/18
The expansion Philadelphia Wings made their return to Wells Fargo Center on Saturday with glitz and a crowd of more than 11,000.
The event featured celebrations of Wings from the former franchise – which left for New England over 4 years ago – and although it featured a loss, 17-15 to the Buffalo Bandits, a throng of 11,023 witnessed a an exciting game, the first game of the 2018-19 National Lacrosse League season.
Banners honoring former Philadelphia legends such as Tom Marechek, Dallas Eliuk, and Jake Bergey were raised to the rafters to honor the past franchise. Fans were happy to welcome the new one, which showed plenty of offense for an expansion team.
After falling behind early and then again by four in the third period, the Wings tied it, 15-15, on a late goal by Brett Hickey before Shawn Evans tallied the game-winner with just over a minute to play. Steve Priolo added the final goal in the final seconds for Buffalo.
Corey Small scored five goals and Thomas Hoggarth added a hat trick for the Bandits.
Jordan Hall (2G, 4a) and Chris Cloutier (2G, 4A) led the Wings with six points each, while Josh Currier (3G) and Hickey (2G, 1A) had three points apiece. Also, Philly’s own Matt Rambo (La Salle College High, Duke’s LC, Springside CHA assistant coach) had 1G and 2A and gave the hometown fans something to think about.
“For our first foray into this, I thought it was good,” Wings head coach Paul Day said. “I thought it was a good game. Buffalo is one of the teams to be in the league and especially in the East.
“We’re a very young team and we’ve made some young mistakes. It’s a great learning experience for us. It was a great start. Great fan support, as usual, and it’s going to get better. Obviously, we’re not happy with the result, but we’re happy with the journey so far.”
The Wings next will play in Rochester against the Knighthawks on Dec. 29.
Part one: Retired players pic.twitter.com/1LyZz0B0WB
— Phillylacrosse.com (@phillylacrosse) December 15, 2018
Scoring 1 2 3 4 T
Buffalo 5 6 2 4 -17
Philadelphia 4 5 3 3 -15
Power Plays PIM
Buffalo 4-7 15
Philadelphia 0-2 36
Shots on Goal – Bandits 56, Wings 51
Loose Balls – Bandits 75, Wimgs 79
Faceoffs – Bandits 12-37, Wings 25-37
Wings
Name G A PIM S SOFF LB T CT FO
1 M.Rambo 1 2 0 2 1 4 2 0 –
3 D.Evans 0 0 0 1 1 6 0 1 –
9 T.Baptiste 0 0 0 0 0 13 3 0 25-35
11 B.Hickey 2 1 4 8 5 2 0 0 –
12 L.Patten 1 0 5 1 1 6 1 3 –
17 C.Koneczny 0 0 19 0 1 4 1 0 –
19 Z.Reid 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 –
21 S.Charbonneau 1 0 0 2 0 3 0 2 –
22 B.Hill 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 1 –
27 J.Currier 3 0 2 11 3 1 4 0 –
28 V.Harrris 1 1 0 4 3 1 1 0 0-2
33 A.Joaquim 1 0 0 2 0 7 1 2 –
34 A.Osika 0 2 2 0 0 3 0 0 –
44 J.Hall 2 4 0 4 0 3 3 2 –
45 C.Cloutier 2 4 0 8 4 7 1 0 –
46 K.Matisz 0 3 0 4 0 4 3 1 –
57 D.Buchan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
65 D.DiRuscio 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 –
83 F.Brown 1 1 0 3 0 6 0 0 –
Totals: 15 21 36 51 19 79 20 12 25-37
Goalies MIN SOG SV GA
57 D.Buchan 22:02 24 14 10
65 D.DiRuscio (loss) 37:57 31 25 6
Part 2: Retired players pic.twitter.com/YJvTrpv3z9
— Phillylacrosse.com (@phillylacrosse) December 15, 2018
