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Philadelphia Wings Face Rochester in First Playoff Appearance Since 2004

May 2, 2012 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Philadelphia Wings News Release


The Philadelphia Wings will open the National Lacrosse League playoffs when they travel to Rochester, NY, to face-off against the Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena on Friday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. The Knighthawks defeated the Wings, 9-7, this past Saturday to secure a home playoff game against Philadelphia in the first round.

The Wings enter post-season play looking for a fresh start after dropping their past five games to finish the season third in the East Division with a record of 7-9. Head Coach Johnny Mouradian is optimistic that the playoffs will yield better results.

"Even though we have lost a few games down the stretch, of the games we lost, really the only game we were out of it was the Buffalo game," said Mouradian. "The new season for us started last Saturday around 9:30 p.m."

While the Wings are anxious to wipe the slate clean, Rochester is looking to continue the momentum they have built against Philadelphia this season. The Knighthawks have defeated the Wings in all three meetings this year.

"I think we match up very well with them," Mouradian said. "We've had two real close games besides the first game of the season. It doesn't matter in this league you play but all facets need to be firing on all cylinders. Our goal is to do everything we can to be successful."

Despite last weekend's loss to Rochester, Wings goalie Brandon Miller appeared to get back on track after struggling in the few weeks prior, registering 27 saves on 36 shots. According to Mouradian, putting the ball past Rochester goalie Matt Vinc will be key in the re-match.

"There's a lot of positives to take from that game. Statistically we did a lot of good things with a man-down, power plays, loose balls," Mouradian said. "Every statistic we seemed to manage well except for scoring more goals. Holding a team like Rochester to nine considering they had seven power plays, that's not bad. Kevin [Crowley] is going to bang in some goals this weekend. Same with Drew [Westervelt]."

If the Wings win in Rochester Friday and the Buffalo Bandits defeat the Toronto Rock the following night, Philadelphia can host its first home playoff game since 2002 at Wells Fargo Center the following weekend.

Friday's game can be seen live on the NLL Network at www.nll.com.

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