Wings Fade Late in Loss to Halifax
Published on March 29, 2026 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Philadelphia Wings News Release
The Philadelphia Wings engaged the Halifax Thunderbirds in a back-and-forth affair at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night, but the Thunderbirds pulled away in the fourth quarter and took an eventual 8-6 win in the first of two games on the weekend in South Philadelphia.
The Wings' new-look offense made its home floor debut, as it was the first home game since the NLL trade deadline where three veteran forwards departed Philadelphia, and the young group put together several outstanding chances over the course of the evening. It was only the outstanding goaltending of Warren Hill that kept the Wings at bay. Hill was nearly equally matched by the outstanding goaltending of Deacan Knott, who made his second career start in the contest. But Hill simply made two more saves than Knott did in earning the win.
Lukas Nielsen started his first home game as a member of the Wings with two first-quarter goals that gave Philadelphia an early 2-0 lead. From there, the Wings either led or were tied all the way into the fourth quarter. It wasn't until then that Brendan Bomberry scored to give Halifax its first advantage at 6-5; off the ensuing face-off, Clarke Petterson scored five seconds later and Halifax now had a two-goal lead that it would not relinquish. Bomberry was credited with a shorthanded goal off a bad hop that ended up in the Wings net that made the score 8-5, but all that came Philadelphia's way the rest of the night was Sam LeClair's second tally of the game on a power play.
LeClair and Nielsen each had an assist along with their two goals for a three-point night, while Dalton Young also had a three-point game on the strength of a goal and two assists. Landen Sinfield had a goal and an assist, while veteran defenseman Ryan Wagner contributed two assists. LeClair tied a career high with 10 shots on goal, while Nielsen and Sinfield set career highs with nine and eight shots, respectively.
Bo Columbus held his own against one of the league's face-off kings in Jake Withers, going 5-for-17 on the game one week after Withers won 35 of 36 face-offs he took against the Georgia Swarm. Wagner led the way with seven loose ball pickups.
The two clubs each had 49 shots on goal, marking the first time this season the Wings were not outshot in a game. Knott was stellar with 41 saves in the losing cause.
The Wings will be back in action at Xfinity Mobile Arena this Sunday afternoon when they host the Toronto Rock at 1:00 PM.
National Lacrosse League Stories from March 29, 2026
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