Shawn Slaght, All Lacrosse All The Time – A Division of the Edge of Philly Sports Network
After having a couple of down weeks, the Philadelphia Wings were able to get back on track with a 13-5 win over the Albany Firewolves on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Arena.
The Wings swung a trade with Vancouver earlier in the week to bring in Mitch Jones to the left side of the offense. He made an immediate impact, putting up two goals and three assists.
Philadelphia was also waiting for big games out of Joe Resetarits and Ben McIntosh and that’s exactly what they got on Saturday night. Resetarits had four goals and four assists, while McIntosh added two goals and three assists.
Zach Higgins has had an up-and-down season, but he had one of his best performances against Albany. He stopped 39 of 44 shots in the victory.
A couple of milestones were reached. Albany goaltender Doug Jamieson sh his 2,000th career shot. The Wings’ Chad Tuttan also played his 100th career NLL game.
Low-scoring first quarter
It took until the 8:05 mark of the first quarter before either team was able to get on the board in this one. McIntosh sent a long bouncer by Jamieson to give the Wings a 1-0 lead.
Fifty seconds later, Albany was able to tie it up when Connor Kelly buried a feed from Kieran McArdle.
Blaze Riorden would put the Wings back up ahead 2-1 on the power play, picking up a loosie and scoring. Riorden’s goal would be the first of 10 straight for the Wings.
Resetarits rounded out the scoring with a buzzer-beater with 2.8 seconds left in the quarter to make it 3-1.
Philly pulls away before the half
The Wings didn’t let their foot off the gas in the second quarter. Jones scored his first goal in a Wings uniform 1:47 into the second quarter to make it 4-1.
Resetarits looked in MVP form in this game. He added another goal with 12:04 left on the clock. He added another at 7:52 with a shot over a defender to make it 6-1.
Sam Leclair rounded out the scoring at 1:49 shorthanded was the Wings were killing off a delay of game penalty. Philly held a commanding 7-1 lead at the half.
Wings don’t let up
Heading into the second half, the question was could Philly get back on track and hold on to the lead or would we see another Wings’ collapse?
Philadelphia continued to pour it on in the third quarter. Jones would pick off the top right corner of the net on the power play to extend the lead to 8-1.
Riorden scored with 4:56 on the clock on an amazing second effort to make it 9-1 in favour of the Wings heading into the final frame.
Philly gets back on track
Leclair scored his second of the game cutting through the middle 1:07 into the fourth quarter and the route was on. At 9:35, McIntosh picked the top corner to give Philly a 10-point cushion.
Colton Watkinson scored for Albany at 8:46 to narrow the lead to 10-2. It was Albany’s first goal since the 7:15 mark of the first quarter.
John Lafontaine’s sidearm shot 30 seconds later would add another goal for the Firewolves as they tried to dig out of a hole.
Resetarits continued with the hot stick with a power play marker at 7:58 and it marked the end of the night for Jamieson in net for Albany. Justin Geddie would come in relief for the remainder of the game.
Matt Rambo restored the Wings’ 10-goal lead at 6:50 to get Philly back on track. Albany rounded out the scoring with goals from Lafontaine and Kelly to make the final 13-5.
Top scorers
Philadelphia Wings
Joe Resetarits, 4g 4a
Ben McIntosh, 2g 3a
Mitch Jones, 2g 3a
Albany Firewolves
John Lafontaine, 2g
Connor Kelly, 2g
Kieran McArdle, 2a
Tanner Thomson, 2a
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Shawn Slaght has been a sports reporter across the Canadian prairies for over 10 years and has experience covering everything from junior hockey to World Cup skiing to all levels of lacrosse. He is the Saskatchewan correspondent for All Lacrosse All The Time.
