The Philadelphia Wings kept the playoffs within reach by defeating the Ottawa Rebel Saturday night, 19-17, in front of over 14,000 fans at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.

Improving to 6-6 on the season, the Wings' victory over the 2-10 Rebel cooled the sting of two tough losses last weekend -- and three in a row -- that threatened to leave them out of the postseason for only the second time in their sixteen-year existence. Two tough home-and-home series against the division-leading Washington Power (the Wings' Eastern Division) and Toronto Rock (Northern Division) round out the Wings' season, and could make defending their NLL Championship very difficult indeed.

The game opened up with a quick goal from the Wings' Kevin Finneran, but despite each squad taking thirteen shots in the period only two additional goals were tallied. Ten minutes after Finneran's goal, Tom Marechek put the Wings ahead by two, but with under a minute to play in the quarter, Chris Konopliff beat Wings goaltender Dallas Eliuk on the power play for the first Ottawa point in the contest.

The second stanza became a shoot-out, featuring thirty-five shots on goal. Marechek scored his second of the evening to again put the Wings ahead by two, but the Ottawa team responded with two goals from Mike Benedict and one from Andrew Guindon. Seconds after Guindon scored, Game MVP Jeff Ratcliffe tallied the first of his eight goals on the night. This strike would be his only one before halftime, though, setting up an exciting second half.

Ottawa's Jamie Raffan scored next, followed by the Wings' Peter Jacobs just six seconds later. A short-handed goal from Tom Ryan put the Wings ahead by one again, but Benedict had an answer, tying the game on a power-play goal, completing the hat trick. Marty O'Brien and Jamie Roy added two more to stake the Rebel to its first two-goal lead. Mark Millon netted his first tally of the contest on a power play to bring the Wings within a point, but a shorthanded goal from Roy reestablished the two point cushion, with the first half ending 9-7 in the Rebel's favor.

After allowing Ottawa to score eight goals in the second quarter, the Wings exacted revenge by putting up eight of their own in the third period of play. While holding Ottawa to just seven shots, the Wings peppered Rebel netminder Andrew Leyshon with 21 shots. Ratcliffe and Millon started things off right away for Philadelphia, knotting the score at nine. Benedict's fourth tally and Ryan Painter's lone goal gave the Rebel a two-point advantage again, but a 6-1 Wings run followed, with Millon's hat trick power play goal starting the frenzy. Ratcliffe tallied three more goals, aided by a pair of goals from Finneran, interrupted only by an Ottawa goal from D.J. Serr.

Leading the game by a score of 15-12 going into the final stanza, the Wings did not look back. Ratcliffe scored three more goals in the period, including a power play goal. Millon scored his fourth point of the night to round out the Wings' scoring. Ottawa threw eighteen shots at Eliuk and fourth-quarter replacement Chris Sanderson, with Benedict and Mike Tarbell scoring twice (once each on power plays) and Dan Marohl adding one of his own. Their efforts fell short, coming no closer than a goal from tying the game, and the Wings held on to record the victory.

Both team's starting goalies -- Leyshon and Eliuk -- were replaced in the fourth quarter due to injuries, the extent of which were unknown at this writing.

Both the Wings and Rebel face the Washington Power next week. Ottawa hosts the Power Thursday, in a rescheduled game from February, and the Wings visit Capital Centre two nights later.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Ottawa Rebel (2-10)                   1  8  3  5  --  17
Philadelphia Wings (6-6)              2  5  8  4  --  19

OTTAWA REBEL                  PHILADELPHIA WINGS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Benedict       6 - 2     8    Ratcliffe      8 - 0     8
Marohl         1 - 4     5    Millon         4 - 4     8
Konopliff      1 - 3     4    Marechek       2 - 6     8
Roy            2 - 1     3    Bergey         0 - 6     6
Tarbell        2 - 1     3    Finneran       3 - 2     5
Barnes         1 - 2     3    Cromwell       0 - 5     5
Painter        1 - 1     2    P Jacobs       1 - 1     2
Raffan         1 - 1     2    Ryan           1 - 1     2
Serr           1 - 1     2    Spano          0 - 2     2
Hill           0 - 2     2    Brzeski        0 - 1     1
Leyshon        0 - 2     2    C Sanderson    0 - 1     1
A Guindon      1 - 0     1    Stilley        0 - 1     1
Cook           0 - 1     1    
Noganash       0 - 1     1    

Shots on goal           57    Shots on goal           65
Saves made by (GA)      46    Saves made by (GA)      40
   Leyshon (15)      35          Eliuk (14)        33
   Disher (4)        11          C Sanderson (3)    7
Penalties               10    Penalties                6
Penalty Minutes         23    Penalty Minutes         15
Power Play Chances       5    Power Play Chances       7
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         3
   Benedict           2          Millon             2
   Konopliff          1          Racliffe           1
   Tarbell            1          
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        1
   Roy                1          Ryan               1
Loose Balls             68    Loose Balls             74
   Serr              10          Eliuk             12
   Tarbell            9          Ratcliffe          9
   Konopliff          7          P Jacobs           8
   Leyshon            7          
   Marohl             7
Faceoffs Won            17    Faceoffs Won            23
   Konopliff    ( 7- 8)          P Jacobs     (20-16)
   Tasse        ( 6- 7)          Stilley      ( 2- 0)
   Raffan       ( 4- 8)          R Traynor    ( 1- 1)

*** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH PHILADELPHIA WINGS ***