Patrick Bernard – Philadelphia Correspondent, All Lacrosse All The Time/Stream Punk Sports
The Philadelphia Wings headed into San Diego facing the Seals on Saturday night. The Wings were looking to make a difference form last season’s dismal 6-12 showing and put the NLL on notice. They did just that in the first quarter, playing outstanding on both sides of the ball and giving the Seals a punch that they weren’t expecting with 5 unanswered goals. Joe Resetarits would have a couple of goals in the first, while Holden Cattoni put up a hat trick. Scott Dominey showing his two way game of playing great physical defense and contributing in the transition game. The Wings would put up 8 goals in the first quarter. I like what I saw on the defensive end from Philly as well, playing defensive schemes that made it hard for San Diego to shoot from the outside.
Seals Make All The Right Adjustments
The Wings showed their dominance in the first quarter. However, quarters 2, 3, and 4 belonged to the San Diego Seals as they came roaring back. Former Philadelphia Wings player Ben McIntosh lighting up his old team on the scoreboard by creating space and unloading with 4 goals and 2 assists. Rob Hellyer had 6 points on 3 goals and 3 assists, but the biggest playmaker for the Seals to me was Ryan Benesch. Benesch had 9 points (5 goals and 4 assists). The Seals outscored Philly 7-1 in the second quarter for an 11-9 halftime lead.
San Diego outplayed Philly offensively with good ball movement, finding open spacing and outplaying them physically on defense. The most important piece for this Seals team was their young goaltender Chris Origlieri, who stopped 24 of 36 shots. If dealing with this Seals defense wasn’t hard enough, Origlieri made it that much harder by keeping his eyes locked on the opposition. San Diego showed again they want to be one of the NLL’s top contenders.
Aftermath For The Wings
The Philadelphia Wings had a great first quarter, but I could see the growing pains of this team, still needing some time to gel between having a brand new head coach and a rookie getting used to the box game. One positive is the existing chemistry between the players the Wings picked up from Panther City in the Dispersal Draft. I think this team will figure it out very quickly as the season progresses. Drawing first blood against one of the league’s best teams from last year and setting the tone of the game by being up 8-4 at the end of the first quarter was amazing. Now the Wings have a bye week to get back to the drawing board and get ready for a hungry Las Vegas Desert Dogs team coming to Philly in two weeks for Philadelphia’s home opener.