Toronto Rock

The Wings postponed today's scheduled game against the Toronto Rock when severe weather in Ontario left the National Lacrosse League team unable to depart from the airport. The game will be rescheduled, with an announcement of the new date expected Monday, team president Russ Cline said.

The Wings fell below .500 (4-5) with a 16-13 loss to the National Lacrosse League-leading Toronto Rock (8-3) Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center. Brendan Mundorf and Athan Iannucci each had four goals and five assists for the Wings, who host the Calgary Roughnecks Saturday night.

JOSH SANDERSON scored three goals to lead the defending champion Toronto Rock (3-2) to a 15-6 win over the Wings (2-2) in a National Lacrosse League game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. Brodie Merrill, Kevin Crowley and Dan Dawson each had a goal and an assist for the Wings, who host Buffalo Sunday at 4.  

Geoff Snider scored the final two goals of the game as the Wings edged the Toronto Rock, 10-9, last night in the NLL. Athan Iannucci scored three goals and had two assists, and goalie Matt Roik added 31 saves in front of 11,292 fans in the Wachovia Center. It was the team's second win in two nights. Toronto had taken a 9-8 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Wings got two goals from Snider to win. Sean Greenhalgh had a pair of goals and two assists for the Wings.

The Wings said yesterday that they had rescheduled Saturday's game against the Toronto Rock for 8:05 p.m. April 6. The game at the Wachovia Center was called off after the Rock were unable to leave Toronto because of poor weather Friday night. Tickets will be honored for the same seats on April 6, or for comparable seats at the two other remaining home games, against the San Jose Stealth at 8 p.m. Friday and the New York Titans at 7:30 p.m. April 19.

The Wings upset the defending National Lacrosse League champion Toronto Rock, 10-8, last night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Tom Marechek led the Wings with five points, including three goals. Jeff Ratcliffe had three goals; Dan Marohl and Keith Cromwell each had two goals. Ratcliffe netted the game-winning goal; that score gave him 200 points for his career. The Wings, who ended a three-game losing streak, are 3-3. "I was proud of the way this team came into this building and played," Wings coach Adam Mueller said.

Linsay Sanderson, the Philadelphia Wings' general manager and head coach, yesterday announced the team's 23-man roster for the 2005 season. The roster includes goalie Dallas Eliuk, who is returning for his 15th National Lacrosse League season, and forward Tom Marechek, who led the team in scoring last season with 72 points on 26 goals and 46 assists. Also included on the team are rookies Andrew Burkholder, Dan Finck and Rob Van Beek. The Wings' first game will be at Arizona on Jan. 7. The home opener will be Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. against the Toronto Rock at the Wachovia Center.

The Wings have rescheduled their postponed game with the Toronto Rock to April 2 at the Wachovia Center. The game, which was to have been the indoor lacrosse team's home opener, was postponed because of snow. Tickets for the Jan. 22 game will be honored at the April 2 contest. The Wings and the Buffalo Bandits also have rescheduled their Feb. 26 game in Buffalo to Feb. 25. The switch became necessary after the National Lacrosse League moved its All-Star Game from Feb. 27 to Feb. 26 so that NBC can televise the event.

John Tavares scored five goals to lead the Buffalo Bandits to a 16-7 win over the Wings at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday night. Tavares became the first National Lacrosse League player to reach 700 career goals. He now has 704. The Wings (3-4) were led by forwards Athan Iannucci, Drew Westervelt and Alex Turner, who scored two goals each. Defender Dan Hardy scored the other. The Wings will meet the Bandits (4-2) on Saturday in Buffalo. The Wings' next home game in Saturday, Feb. 26 against the Toronto Rock at 8 p.m.

Starved for sports triumphs as Philadelphia is, you'd think more would have been made of the Wings winning the National Lacrosse League championship last weekend in Toronto. Granted, lacrosse isn't considered a "major" sport - but it's fast and it's exciting and it's gaining popularity (a record crowd of more than 19,000 watched the Wings edge the Toronto Rock in the title game). What's more, Philadelphia has won six titles since they began big-league professional competition.

THE WINGS look to clinch a chance to host a home playoff game Saturday when they visit the Rochester Knighthawks in their final regular-season game. The 7-8 Wings have already clinched a National Lacrosse League playoff spot, but one of the two spots for hosting a game in the East Division remains open. The team also could win the division if it beats the Knighthawks and the Toronto Rock loses to the Edmonton Rush on Saturday. "We're at playoff time, we'd love to host a playoff game in our building," Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said.

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.

The Wings lost their third straight game as they fell to the host Buffalo Bandits, 17-7, at First Niagara Center Saturday night. After falling to the Minnesota Swarm, 13-9, Friday night, the Wings fell behind by 6-2 early and were never able to make it competitive in the second half. The Wings dropped to 7-7 and out of first place in the National Lacrosse League's (NLL) East Division as the Toronto Rock defeated the Edmonton Rush to improve to 7-6. Brodie Merrill led the Wings with three goals.

Despite three goals and two assists from rookie Kevin Crowley and a goal and four assists from forward Dan Dawson, the Wings dropped what was for three quarters a tight game, 11-8, to the Rochester Knighthawks at Wells Fargo Center Saturday night. The Wings fell behind by 4-2 in the first quarter before rallying to enter the final period tied at 7. Rochester was led by Mike Accursi with a hat trick and four assists. Rochester improved to 2-0 against the Wings and now owns the season-ending tiebreaker.

The Wings took over first place in the National Lacrosse League East Division with a 14-8 win over the Toronto Rock at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday. Dan Dawson had three goals and seven assists to lead the Wings (4-2), who sit alone in first by a full game. Dawson, the reigning NLL offensive player of the week, has 20 points in his last two games. The win avenged the Wings' 15-6 loss at home Feb. 4 when the Rock blanked them in the second half.  

The Wings made history as they beat the Buffalo Bandits, 14-13, Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center, becoming the first North American professional sports team to put Twitter handles on the backs of their jerseys. Rookie Kevin Crowley led the Wings (3-2) in scoring with four goals against the Bandits (2-3). Dan Dawson recorded one goal and led the team in assists with 11. And Drew Westervelt scored two of his three goals in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter, giving the Wings the win. "We spent a lot of time this week talking about being aggressive," Wings coach Johnny Mouradian said.

Forwards Dan Dawson and Kevin Crowley, and transition players Brodie Merrill and Max Seibald will represent the Wings on the East team at the 2012 NLL All-Star Game, Feb. 25, at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Merrill will be the only starter. The game is set for 7 p.m. and is scheduled to be shown on ESPN3 and NLL.com. It will be the sixth All-Star Game appearance for Dawson and Merrill, the second for Seibald and the first for rookie Crowley. Toronto Rock head coach Troy Cordingley will lead the East team.

JOSH SANDERSON scored three goals to lead the defending champion Toronto Rock (3-2) to a 15-6 win over the Wings (2-2) in a National Lacrosse League game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. Brodie Merrill, Kevin Crowley and Dan Dawson each had a goal and an assist for the Wings, who host Buffalo Sunday at 4.  

The Wings lost to last year's National Lacrosse League champions, the Toronto Rock, 15-6, before a crowd of 7,807 at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. The Wings (2-2) were held scoreless in the second half and led the Rock (3-2) only once, at 4-3, in the first quarter. The Rock led, 9-6, at the half. "Being held scoreless in the second half is unacceptable," said Dan Dawson, Wings cocaptain. "We got outworked. We got outplayed. It was pretty embarrassing. " Wings head coach Johnny Mouradian said his team "couldn't catch our breath" and struggled to take good shots on goal.

KEVIN CROWLEY scored in overtime to give the Wings their first win of the season, 10-9, over the Washington Stealth on Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center. Crowley scored five goals and added an assist to fuel the Wings (1-1) in their home opener. Through two games, Crowley, the Wings' top draft pick, leads the team with 14 points (eight goals, six assists). Dan Dawson had three goals and four assists as the Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter. Goalkeeper Brandon Miller made 49 saves.