Wings Fall To Buffalo 15-10

Published on January 28, 2005 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Philadelphia Wings News Release


PHILADELPHIA - The Wings (1-2) gave up nine straight goals in the second half in a 15-10 loss to Buffalo (2-2) Saturday at the Wachovia Center. The game was the first of a home-and-home series with the Bandits. John Tavares and Delby Powless led Buffalo with three goals and four assists each. Jeff Ratcliffe led the Wings with three goals and two assists. "We had two or three great opportunities in the third quarter when we were up, 9-6, but we didn't put them away ," said Wings' new head coach Lindsay Sanderson. "They came back and put them in our net and turned it around. Every time we missed, they came around and scored. Except for a couple lost battles on loose balls, I thought we did a great job and had opportunities to win the game. Obviously I'm a little disappointed, but we'll do better tomorrow night."

Buffalo took the first lead of the game with an early goal by Delby Powless. The Wings answered less than two minutes later with Keith Cromwell's third goal in three games. Powless put the Bandits ahead once again with his second tally of the game, but Jeff Ratcliffe tied the game at two less than a minute later. The Wings special teams went to work at the end of the quarter, successfully killing off two penalties. Philadelphia veteran goalie Dallas Eliuk stopped Powless from completing the hat trick and also made saves on AJ Shannon and Dan Teat.

Teat opened the scoring for the Bandits in the second quarter, assisted by Clay Hill and Aime Caines. The Wings tied the game and took the lead for the first time with two goals in a 15-second span. Cromwell netted his second on the power play and Dan Marohl converted on a pass from rookie Rob Van Beek. It was Van Beek's first point of the season. The two teams traded goals once again with scores by Buffalo's John Tavares and Philadelphia's Tom Marechek before the Wings pulled ahead by two with Ratcliffe and Marohl's second goals of the game. Marohl's goal came on the power play.

The Bandits struck first in the second half, but Philadelphia increased its lead with two unanswered goals. Face-off specialist Peter Jacobs scored his first goal since February 2004 and Marc Morley put away the team's third power-play goal of the game. Buffalo responded with goals by Jason Crosbie, Tavares, and Powless to tie the game. Tavares recorded a hat trick to put the Bandits ahead for the first time in over a quarter of play. His team took a one-goal lead into the final quarter. Buffalo continued its attack in the fourth quarter with five more goals. The nine-goal run, starting in the previous quarter, put the Bandits ahead by six to solidify the win. Ratcliffe broke the streak with his third goal, almost 19 minutes since Philadelphia's previous goal. Jeff Ratcliffe led the Wings in scoring with five points (3G,2A). Five other players scored goals for Philadelphia, including Marc Morley (2G,0A), Keith Cromwell (2G,1A), Peter Jacobs (1G), Dan Marohl (2G,2A), and Tom Marechek (1G,2A). Delby Powless and John Tavares led the Bandits in scoring with seven points each (3G,4A). Six other players scored for Buffalo including Billy Dee Smith (1G,0A), AJ Shannon (3G,2A), Mark Steenhuis (1G,2A), Dan Teet (2G,4A), Aime Caines (1G,1A), and Jason Crosbie (1G,3A).

NOTES: Philadelphia goalie Dallas Eliuk made his 5,000th career save midway through the second quarter, stopping a shot by Dan Teat...Second-year defenseman Thomas Hajek was chosen as captain of the 2005 Philadelphia Wings. Alternative captains for the season are Jake Bergey and Jeff Ratcliffe...Eliuk received Defensive Player of the Week honors in week two of the NLL action for his 55-save performance over the Arizona Sting...Individual game tickets for the Wings indoor lacrosse are $10, $20, $27 and $29in advance ($10, $22, $29 and $31 on game day) and on-sale now at the Wachovia Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Get your boarding passes now and take flight with Wings season tickets starting as low as $80 and are available by calling 215-389-WING (9464).

Individual tickets for the 2005 Philadelphia Wings season, including the home opener on Friday, January 28 vs. the Buffalo Bandits at the Wachovia Center at 7:30 p.m., are now on sale at the Wachovia Complex Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Season tickets start as low as $80! Call 215.389.WING (9464) to get yours now.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 28, 2005


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