A solid start out of the gate ended up fading for the Philadelphia Wings as they suffered their first setback of the season on Saturday night, falling to the Toronto Rock 12-9 north of the border in Ontario. A team effort that saw goals from eight different players wasn’t enough to outpace a Rock attack that got three goals and a six-point night from from Rob Hellyer and a defense that was anchored by 39 saves from Nick Rose.
After allowing the game’s first goal, the Wings seemed to catch fire with five of the game’s next six tallies to open up a 5-2 lead. From there, the Rock began to chip away at the deficit, getting two second-quarter goals to pull within 5-4 at halftime.
Toronto’s streak continued after halftime as the Rock scored four times in the first five minutes of the third quarter to pull away with an overall 6-0 run. The Wings were able to quell that momentum, but could do no better than trade goals with Toronto the rest of the way – the clubs alternated scoring up until an empty-netter for the Rock sealed affairs in the final minute.
Although no Wings player had more than two goals – Kevin Crowley had the pair, with Matt Rambo, Blaze Riorden, Brett Hickey, Cory Vitarelli, Kiel Matisz, Ben McIntosh and Ryan Wagner all tallying once apiece – Rambo assisted on six goals for a seven-point game, while Hickey, Crowley and Matisz totaled three points each. Every player on the roster was credited with at least one loose ball, led by seven apiece for Trevor Baptiste and Wagner.
With the loss, the Wings drop to 2-1 on the young season. The team now takes the holiday break, and will return to action at Wells Fargo Center on January 8 when the Georgia Swarm come to town for a noon start in the first of four January home games. Tickets are available at WingsLAX.com.
