Justin Ivey, Co-Editor
Lacrosse is Awesome©
The Las Vegas Desert Dogs (3-3) hosted the Philadelphia Wings (1-4) on Saturday night at Lee’s Family Forum in what turned out to be a defensive battle. Adam Poitras (3G) and Connor Kirst (2G, 2A) led Las Vegas on the offensive end while Landon Kells (7GA, 38SV) held it down between the pipes. Philadelphia was led by Brennan O’Neill (2G, 3A) and Eric Fannell (2G, 2A) and the defense was anchored by a strong showing from Nick Damude (10GA, 48SV). The Wings fell behind early and were never able to get back to a tie game. Las Vegas held their lead for the first franchise win against the Wings. Final Score: Philadelphia Wings – 7, Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 10.
The Wings did strike first to start the game. O’Neill one hand caught a pass high in the zone and released his unmistakable overhand shot, scoring exactly one minute into play. Unfortunately, that is the only goal the road team could find in the first quarter. Kirst would score the first goal for Las Vegas unassisted in transition, and the team responded with three more before the first 15 minutes ran out. Chase Fraser (2G) was up next, scoring with 10:32 remaining and his goal was followed by scores from John LaFontaine (1G, 1A) and Chris Cloutier (1G, 1A). Cloutier’s goal with 5:24 left increased the Las Vegas lead to three. At the end of the first quarter, Las Vegas led Philadelphia 4-1.
Goals took a couple minutes to arrive in the second quarter as both defenses stood strong. The Wings broke the stalemate 6:34 as Fannell danced to the crease from the middle and scored. Another long scoring break followed, and again Philadelphia found an opening. Michael Sowers (1G) cut the Las Vegas lead down to just one with 3:10 left in the half. Fraser extended it back to two with his second of the game, and 10th of the season, with just 59 seconds left. At the half, Las Vegas led Philadelphia 5-3.
Again, the Wings scored first in the third quarter. This time it was Phil Caputo (1G) who cut the Las Vegas lead to just one, but the teams would trade goals for the quarter. Kirst answered for the Desert Dogs with 9:43 remaining. After nearly five minutes of scoreless lacrosse, Chris Corbeil (1G) scored unassisted in transition for Philadelphia with 4:52 left, but Poitras scored the final goal of the quarter with 2:04 left to extend the home lead back to two. At the end of the third quarter, Las Vegas led Philadelphia 7-5.
Poitras took the momentum into the fourth quarter and bucked the Wings’ first goal trend. 1:23 in, he scored his second in a row and four and a half minutes later, he made it three in a row while extending the lead to four goals. Fighting for any chance they could, O’Neill got one back for the Wings and with 8:32 left they were now down just three. Unfortunately, the goal didn’t start a run. Jackson Webster (1G, 1A) extended the Vegas lead back to four with 4:50 remaining. Fannell would score the game’s only power play goal to finish the night with 26 seconds on the clock. Final Score: Philadelphia Wings – 7, Las Vegas Desert Dogs – 10.
Up Next:
The Philadelphia Wings (1-4) host the San Diego Seals on Friday, January 23 at 7:00 PM EST.
The Las Vegas Desert Dogs (3-3) enjoy a week off before hosting the Oshawa Firewolves on Saturday, January 31 at 10:00 PM EST.