Missing for most of the season, the Philadelphia Wings' defense reappeared Friday night, just in time to hold off the New York Saints in an 11-10 win at First Union Center.

The game, although played in Week Ten of a nineteen-week season, was the Wings' home opener. Team ownership decided on the odd scheduling as a way to avoid poor attendance during the holidays.

Fabio Gump Outsider's Guide   The Wings' 2001 championship banner is raised prior to the home opener on Friday.

Just prior to the game, the crowd of over 14,000 cheered as the 2001 NLL Championship banner was raised, and then again as Dustin Sanderson was brought onto the surface by his brother, Chris, of the Wings. Dustin, recuperating from a paralyzing injury in an OLA game last summer, stood up and took several steps and bent over to drop the ball for the ceremonial opening faceoff.

The emotionally charged crowd, still jubilant from the banner raising, made the atmosphere perfect for indoor lacrosse. They were not disappointed, as both squads came ready to play. Hoping to avenge last week's loss to the Saints in New York, the 1-3 Wings were fired up and came out swinging. The 4-2 Saints came in feeling confident -- perhaps a little too much so, as the Wings defense shut out the Saints in the first quarter, allowing only six shots. Conversely, the Wings peppered Saints goalie Gord Nash with fifteen shots, with two by Jeff Ratcliffe and one by Kevin Finneran finding the back of the net.

The Wings' domination of the game continued into the second period of play, keeping the Saints off the scoreboard until Kris Bryde found rope at the 7:43 mark. Wing Tom Marechek answered almost immediately with his second goal of the quarter, which was followed by Ratcliffe's second power play goal of the game, completing his hat trick. A goal by Saint John Rosa brought the halftime score to 6-2 in the Wings' favor.

In the second half the New York Saints seemed to pick up a little momentum. Having been out-shot in the first half 23-14, the Saints came out firing on all cylinders. Although the first goal of the period was scored by Marechek for the hat-trick, Bryde quickly answered with his third tally of the contest. Bryde would score again and was complemented by two goals from Roy Colsey. Marechek marked his fourth goal of the game in the period to keep the Wings ahead by two at the end of the quarter.

The Wings had been outshot 12-10 in the third stanza and outscored 4-2. The Saints carried their momentum into the final period, with Gavin Prout scoring twice and getting help from Josh Black's goal and Ramar Clash's first NLL goal.

The Wings managed just three goals in the period with Kevin Finneran's back-to-back goals in less than one minute for the hat trick and Mark Millon's first goal of the game, which turned out to be the game winner.

The first of those quick Finneran goals will be recorded in NLL trivia -- it was the fifteen-thousandth in league history, regular-season and playoffs combined, dating to 1987. It's appropriate that Finneran scored it, as he is the league's record-holder for games played.

Both goalies performed well, but Nash stood out, stopping thirty-five of the forty-six shots he faced. The Saints were led in scoring by Bryde, with three goals and two assists. The Wings were paced by Marecheck's six point effort, four goals and two assists.

The Wings travel to New Jersey to face the Storm on Sunday, and return home on Friday, 25 January to square off with the Buffalo Bandits. The Saints have a home-and-home series next weekend against the Washington Power, Friday at the Nassau Coliseum and Saturday at Capital Centre.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
New York Saints (4-3)                 0  2  4  4  --  10
Philadelphia Wings (2-3)              3  3  2  3  --  11

NEW YORK SAINTS               PHILADELPHIA WINGS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
K Bryde        3 - 3     6    Marechek       4 - 2     6
Prout          2 - 3     5    Finneran       3 - 2     5
Rosa           1 - 2     3    Bergey         0 - 4     4
Kruger         0 - 3     3    Ratcliffe      3 - 0     3
Colsey         2 - 0     2    Millon         1 - 1     2
Derks          0 - 2     2    Ryan           0 - 2     2
McCabe         0 - 2     2    Spano          0 - 2     2
Black          1 - 0     1    Barrett        0 - 1     1
Clash          1 - 0     1    Brzeski        0 - 1     1
Nash           0 - 1     1    Phair          0 - 1     1
                              Slate          0 - 1     1
                              R Traynor      0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           34    Shots on goal           46
Saves made by           35    Saves made by           24
   Nash              35          Eliuk             24
Penalties                9    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         18    Penalty Minutes         12
Power Play Chances       2    Power Play Chances       5
Power Play Goals         0    Power Play Goals         2
   (None)                        Ratcliffe          2
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             69    Loose Balls             79
   Nash              15          Bergey            10
   Kruger             9          Ryan              10
   Prout              6          Several tied w/    6
Faceoffs Won            11    Faceoffs Won            14
   M Alexander  ( 9- 9)          P Jacobs     (14-11)
   Ghedina      ( 2- 3)

    *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH PHILA WINGS ***