NLL roundup: Philadelphia Wings beat Toronto Rock

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After three strong wins, there was concern the Rock may have a letdown against the last-place team in the National Lacrosse League. Those concerns were justified Sunday.

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The Rock lost 12-9 to the Philadelphia Wings at Xfinity Mobile Arena, unable to generate any sustained offence against a fired-up Wings defence and goaltender Nick Damude. Conversely, the Wings were able to score consistently on starting Rock goaltender Troy Holowchuk and were also helped by several power play opportunities including a number of five-on-three chances.

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The Wings took control late in the third quarter when Lukas Neilsen scored two of his three goals to put the Wings up 10-7 after three quarters. Brennan O’Neill had two goals and seven points and Dalton Young also scored twice.

Travis Longboat, Alex Pace, Sam LeClair, Ryan Wagner and Ron John added singles. It was just the second win at home for Philadelphia (4-12).

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Owen Hiltz notched a hat trick for the Rock, who fell to 9-6. Josh Dawick also scored three times. CJ Kirst and Sam English scored once as did Bill Hostrawser. That was the defensive stalwart’s first goal of the season.

The Rock return home this Saturday to face the San Diego Seals.

PLAYOFF CHANCE EVAPORATES FOR FIREWOLVES

The Oshawa FireWolves traded punches with the Rochester Knighthawks for nearly three quarters. But an 11-2 run in the final 22 minutes gave the Knighthawks an 18-11 win at Tribute Communities Centre on Saturday and effectively ended any playoff hopes FireWolves fans had.

“In the fourth quarter, it felt like the dam broke,” Oshawa head coach Glenn Clark said. “There were just small gaps, errors, and seals and they were capitalizing on them.”

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The FireWolves had a 9-7 lead midway through the third. But led by Thomas McConvey, who ended with six goals and Ryan Smith who finished with five, the Knighthawks took complete control.

Connor Fields scored twice with Ryan Lanchbury, Zed Williams, Taylor Jensen, Kyle Waters and Chad Tutton scoring once for the Knighthawks (6-8). Ryan Benesch, Taggart Clark and Dawson Theede scored twice each for the FireWolves with Alex Simmons, Jackson Nishimura, Dyson Williams and Ethan Walker scoring once along with rookie Jaxon Fridge scoring his first NLL goal.

Now at 4-11, it’s evaluation time for Clark and his staff over the final three games. Oshawa travels to Calgary next week before facing the Roughnecks again at home on April 11.

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“Guys are going to have to be auditioning to stay in this league and play at this level.” Clark said. “Because we haven’t been very good.”

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ELSEWHERE IN THE NLL

The Wings opened their weekend with an 8-6 loss to the Halifax Thunderbirds. Austin Blumbergs, Mike Robinson and Brendan Bomberry all scored twice for the Thunderbirds, who at 6-9 still have a chance at the playoffs. Nielsen and LeClair had two goals each for Philadelphia.

Joe Resetarits scored with 46 second left to complete a four-goal comeback by the Buffalo Bandits (9-6) in an 8-7 win over the Saskatchewan Rush. Josh Byrne had seven points in Buffalo’s sixth straight win. Robert Church scored twice for the Rush (11-5) who have lost four of its past five.

A 5-0 third-quarter run blew the game open in a 12-7 win by the Georgia Swarm over the Ottawa Black Bears at Canadian Tire Centre. Lyle Thompson had a six-point night for the Swarm (10-5). Rob Hellyer led Ottawa (8-8) with three goals and three assists.

Jonathan Donville scored his second goal in overtime to lead the Las Vegas Desert Dogs to a 10-9 win over the Calgary Roughnecks. Chris Cloutier led Vegas (7-7) with three goals. Tanner Cook also had a hat trick for the Roughnecks (4-11).

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