The Philadelphia Wings scored the first five goals of the contest Saturday night, and held the Rochester Knighthawks to only two goals in a commanding first quarter display that had Philadelphia's crowd of 13,707 in a frenzy Saturday night.

If only the Wings could've kept the fans in a frenzy.

Philadelphia couldn't carry that magic into the rest of the game, though, as Rochester's defense clamped down and allowed only four more goals in the entire rest of the game, rallying for a 12-9 win at the First Union Center.

Rochester's John Grant owned the floor, accounting for four goals and assisting in three others in the contest.

The Wings began with goals from Jeff Spano, Jeff Ratcliffe, and Ryan Traynor in the first five minutes, followed by Paul Cantebene in the eighth minute and Keith Cromwell shortly after that, on a power play. Not until less than four minutes remained in the quarter did Rochester find the net, on a shorthanded goal from Tim Soudan. A late holding penalty on Philadelphia's Rich Brzeski resulted in a Cory Bomberry power play goal, ending the scoring in the first at 5-2.

The Wings were unable to force any offense after the first quarter and scored only once in the second period, on a shot from Tom Marechek. Rochester capitalized on its power play opportunities, with Jeremy Hollenbeck and Derek Malawsky cashing in. However, the Wings remained on top, 6-4, at the half.

Tony Henderson started the third period scoring, but that was all the Wings could muster offensively in the quarter. Dallas Eliuk held the Knighthawks scoreless for over ten minutes, until Shawn Wilkins scored his first professional goal. Grant followed with his first goal of the evening, on the power play, to bring Rochester to within one goal, 7-6, at the break.

Jeff Ratcliffe tallied a power play goal to open the fourth quarter, but was answered by four straight Rochester goals, including two more from John Grant, putting the Knighthawks ahead for the first time, at 10-8. Ratcliffe broke up the Knighthawk rally with another power play strike, but that was all the goals the Wings would score, and Rochester struck twice more to make it a three-goal difference.

Notes: This is the Wings' second straight home loss, and comes after a close win in New Jersey on Thursday night... Tonight's game was the 100th of Paul Cantebene's career, and the home debut of new acquisition Dan Marohl... Tom Marechek's goal puts him one goal shy of 300 regular season goals... The Wings next travel to Ottawa to face the Rebel, on Saturday, 15 February at 3:30 PM... Rochester will return home to meet the Columbus Landsharks at 7:35 PM on Saturday, 15 February.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Rochester Knighthawks (5-2)           2  2  2  6  --  12
Philadelphia Wings (2-4)              5  1  1  2  --   9

ROCHESTER KNIGHTHAWKS         PHILADELPHIA WINGS
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Grant          4 - 3     7    Marechek       1 - 3     4
D Malawsky     2 - 4     6    Ratcliffe      3 - 0     3
S Williams     0 - 5     5    Spano          1 - 2     3
Hollenbeck     2 - 2     4    Cantabene      1 - 1     2
Co Bomberry    1 - 3     4    R Traynor      1 - 1     2
Schiller       1 - 0     1    D Marohl       0 - 2     2
Soudan         1 - 0     1    Slate          0 - 2     2
Wilkins        1 - 0     1    Cromwell       1 - 0     1
O'Toole        0 - 1     1    Henderson      1 - 0     1
Penny          0 - 1     1    Candy          0 - 1     1
                              A Martin       0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           37    Shots on goal           44
Saves made by           35    Saves made by           25
   O'Toole           35          Eliuk             25
Penalties                9    Penalties                8
Penalty Minutes         21    Penalty Minutes         19
Power Play Chances       6    Power Play Chances       6
Power Play Goals         4    Power Play Goals         3
   Co Bomberry        1          Ratcliffe          2
   Grant              1          Cromwell           1
   Hollenbeck         1          
   D Malawsky         1
Shorthanded Goals        1    Shorthanded Goals        0
   Soudan             1          (None)
Loose Balls             63    Loose Balls             72
   Schiller           9          Spano             13
   O'Toole            6          Cantabene         10
   Several tied w/    5          A Martin           8
Faceoffs Won            10    Faceoffs Won            15
   Thorpe       ( 8-12)          Cantabene    (10- 3)
   Co Bomberry  ( 2- 5)          P Jacobs     ( 5- 7)

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