Wings lose to Rock, 14-5

The Philadelphia Wings were stymied by a relentless Toronto defense led by the top goaltender in the NLL, Nick Rose, as they dropped a 14-5 decision at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday.

The game was extremely defensive-oriented throughout the first quarter, which was scoreless until Blaze Riorden opened the proceedings with his sixth goal of the season 11:15 into the game. Toronto answered with a tally from Mitch de Snoo just over a minute and a half later, and the first quarter ended with just those two goals, at 1-1.

Toronto then scored the next 12 goals of the game, picking up seven in the second quarter and four in the third. Tom Schreiber scored five of them, including three in a row, with the last coming 48 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Wings added three in the final frame, one from Matt Rambo and two from Joe Resetarits, but unfortunately the game was well out of reach by that point.

The Wings’ struggles stemmed from a strong Toronto defensive effort that thwarted Philadelphia’s rhythm long before the Wings even tried to shoot.  The Wings committed 24 turnovers trying to get through the Rock defense, 14 of which came in the first half, and Toronto was credited with another five caused turnovers on the contest.

Rose stopped 40 of the 45 shots he saw in the contest before stepping aside for the final 3:23 of the game. Zach Higgins and Angus Goodleaf split the game for the Wings, with Higgins allowing 10 goals on 36 shots in 34:29 and Goodleaf yielding four goals on 22 shots in 25:31.

The Wings will look to bounce back on Friday night when they host the Buffalo Bandits at Wells Fargo Center. They’ll celebrate the accomplishments of Kevin Finneran by retiring his No. 11 to the rafters, joining Dallas Eliuk, Tom Marechek and Jake Bergey.  Tickets for the game are available at WingsLAX.com.