Wings looking to grab home postseason game

By Marc Narducci, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: April 20, 2012

The Wings are already guaranteed a National Lacrosse League playoff berth, and with two regular season games remaining will attempt to earn their first home postseason game since 2002.

With a 7-7 record, the Wings are tied for first place in the East Division with the Toronto Rock. After a bye week, the Wings look to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit the Minnesota Swarm (7-7) on Saturday.

In their earlier meeting, the Wings lost a 13-9 decision to visiting Minnesota on April 6. The Wings' regular season will conclude with an April 28 game at the Rochester Knighthawks.

Eight of the nine NLL teams will earn a playoff berth in the single-elimination tournament that begins the first weekend of May.

The bye came at an opportune time for the Wings, who didn't totally rest.

"We had some practices scheduled, and we all felt the time together was far more valuable than taking time off," Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said in a conference call with reporters.

The Wings will clinch home advantage in the first round with a win against Minnesota and a Toronto loss to the Washington Stealth (4-10) or a loss by Rochester (6-8) to the Buffalo Bandits (5-9).

Two players who look to get the Wings offense back on track are veteran Dan Dawson and rookie Kevin Crowley. Dawson, who was acquired as the first overall pick in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft, has 76 assists, which is a single-season NLL record. He also has 18 goals for a team-high 94 points.

Crowley, the first overall pick in the NLL entry draft out of Stony Brook, leads all rookies with 35 goals.

Contact Marc Narducci at 856,779-3225, mnarducci@phillynews.com or follow on Twitter @sjnard.

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