Second Half Push Carries Wings Past Riptide

Cory Vitarelli and Brett Hickey each had three goals in the second half as the Wings broke open a 5-5 halftime tie by outscoring the New York Riptide 9-1 in the final two quarters en route to a 14-6 win. Hickey posted five goals and an assist for a six-point night, while Kevin Crowley had a goal and six assists to lead the team in scoring.

The clubs played an extremely tight first half that saw the Riptide outshoot the Wings 34-21 in the first two quarters, but Zach Higgins withstood the onslaught with 29 first-half saves. Philadelphia got the game’s first two goals from Crowley 2:18 in and from Kiel Matisz at the 5:40 mark, only to see the Riptide tie it on two goals in 62 seconds from Tyler Digby and Ryan Wagner.  The teams continued to trade goals over the rest of the half, and when Digby scored with 1:35 left in the second quarter, it tied the score at 5-5 headed into the locker room.

The Wings looked like a different team in the second half, as they immediately jumped on the Riptide for three goals in the first 3:50 of the third quarter. Vitarelli grabbed two of them and Hickey picked up the other, and then after a tally from Connor Kelly, Vitarelli completed his hat trick with 3:24 left in the frame.  The Wings then outscored New York 5-0 in the fourth, with three of the goals coming from Hickey and the others from Matisz and Matt Rambo.

Matisz had a six-point game with two goals and four assists and picked up eight loose balls, while Rambo and Blaze Riorden each had a goal and two assists. The Wings were outshot 57-53 on the game, but went 3-for-6 on the power play. Higgins took the win with 51 stops.

The Wings improve to 5-2 on the season and 3-0 at home with the win. Next up are the Georgia Swarm, who come in for an East Division battle next Friday, January 31 at 7:00. Tickets for that and all Wings home games are available at WingsLAX.com.

MEDIA RESOURCES

Full boxscore:

https://laxreports.sportlogiq.com/nll/GS2235.html

Game Highlight Melt

https://grabyo.com/g/v/6vSn5yDRi8u

– WINGSLAX.COM –

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