PHILADELPHIA - The Wings never trailed in a 15-14 win against NLL defending champion Rochester Friday at the Wachovia Center in front of 9,248 fans. Philadelphia has held the lead for both of its games this season. Athan Iannucci scored five goals (5G,3A) for the second straight week to lead the Wings. Philadelphia veteran Jake Bergey added four goals and three assists, and goalie Rob Blasdell made 37 saves for the win.

"I thought we had a rough first half with a lot of penalties, but we contained our emotions and came out well in the third period," said Wings' Head Coach Dave Huntley. "We played a great championship team and they really pushed us. We answered and had a great effort from our young team."

Although Philadelphia led for the entire game, the Knighthawks pulled within one goal in the fourth quarter. Rochester outscored the Wings, 7-2 in the quarter, but Philadelphia was able to hold on to move into a tie for first place with Minnesota.

There were 17 penalties in the first half for a total of 45 minutes…Philadelphia was 7-for-12 on the power play, while Rochester only capitalized on three of its 14 opportunities…The Wings outshot the Knighthawks, 67-51.

Athan Iannucci (5G, 3A) led the Wings in scoring with eight points. Four other players scored goals for Philadelphia, including Jake Bergey (4G, 3A), Jamie Rooney (2G, 2A), Kyle Sweeney (1G), and Merrick Thomson (3G, 3A). Goaltender Rob Blasdell made 37 saves.

John Grant led the Knighthawks in scoring with six points (5G.1A). Seven other players scored for Rochester, including Stephen Hoar (1G,3A), Shawn Evans (2G), Shawn Williams (2G, 3A), Ken Millin (1G, 1A), Luke Forget (1G), Matt Lyons (1G), and Scott Evans (1G, 2A). Goaltender Pat O'Toole had 52 saves on 67 shots.

Notes: The Philadelphia Wings' John Christmas was named the NLL's Transition Player of the Week for his performance in his team's 19-11 win over the Chicago Shamrox in their home opener last Saturday at the Wachovia Center. Christmas recorded five assists and scooped nine loose balls during the contest.

The Wings face the Buffalo Bandits in their next home game Saturday, January 26 vs. at Wachovia Center at 8:00 p.m.

* * * *

Line Score    1  2  3  4  TOTAL
Rochester     2  4  1  7   14
Philadelphia  3  4  6  2   15

1st Quarter
Philadelphia - Athan Iannucci (Jake Bergey) 0:31
Philadelphia - Jamie Rooney (powerplay) (Athan Iannucci, Merrick Thomson) 2:07
Philadelphia - Athan Iannucci (powerplay) (Merrick Thomson) 8:08
Rochester - Stephen Hoar (Scott Ditzell) 8:14
Rochester - Shawn Evans (sh) (Stephen Hoar, Shawn Williams) 11:33

2nd Quarter
Rochester - Shawn Williams (powerplay) (Ken Millin, Scott Evans (sc)) 0:34
Philadelphia - Kyle Sweeney (Rob Blasdell) 1:16
Philadelphia - Merrick Thomson (John Christmas, Geoff Snider) 1:35
Rochester - Ken Millin (powerplay) (Shawn Williams) 3:39
Philadelphia - Jake Bergey (Geoff Snider) 7:02
Rochester - John Grant (penalty shot) 10:39
Rochester - Luke Forget (Sandy Chapman) 11:42
Philadelphia - Jake Bergey (powerplay) (Jason Crosbie) 14:22

3rd Quarter
Philadelphia - Merrick Thomson (Rob Van Beek) 4:01
Philadelphia - Merrick Thomson (Athan Iannucci, Patrick Heim) 5:12
Rochester - Shawn Evans (sh) (Stephen Hoar) 5:22
Philadelphia - Jake Bergey (powerplay) (Merrick Thomson, Athan Iannucci) 6:27
Philadelphia - Athan Iannucci (powerplay) (Jake Bergey, Jamie Rooney) 8:24
Philadelphia - Athan Iannucci (powerplay) (Jamie Rooney, Jason Crosbie) 11:55
Philadelphia - Jake Bergey (powerplay) (unassisted) 14:13

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2008-01-19