Wings fall to Roughnecks, 16-8

But a 16-8 loss to the Calgary Roughnecks Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center left the Wings 0-2 for the weekend.

The Wings (2-2) were looking for a quick turnaround in what was a rare matchup with the Roughnecks (2-2). The two teams have only played a total of four games against each other, with the Wings losing each of the last two matchups prior to Sunday.

The Wings began the game like a team that had just lost a tough one less than 24 hours before, falling behind 2-0 quickly, and remaining scoreless throughout the first quarter.

The Roughnecks' lead ballooned to 5-0 early in the second quarter before the drought was broken by a Paul Rabil score. Rabil was responsible for the Wings' only two goals of the first half, which ended 8-2 in favor of the Roughnecks, who outshot the Wings 27-23 during the half.

The goals were Rabil's first a member of the Wings.

"It feels good to score, but it all depends on the final outcome," Rabil said after the game.

The Wings came out much stronger in the second half and made it into a close contest thanks to goals from Kevin Ross, Drew Westervelt and Kevin Crowley.

Philadelphia was even able to slow Calgary's scoring spree in the third quarter. This was due largely to the presence of Brandon Miller in goal, who was inserted into the game, much to the delight of the home crowd, after the score had reached 7-1 in favor of the Roughnecks.

Despite Miller's best efforts, and a hat trick from Paul Rabin, the Wings weren't able to overcome their slow start.

"That was probably one of the worst starts we’ve had in a long, long time," Wings head coach Johnny Mouradian said. "They really came out fast, hard, and intense against us. They’re an intense lacrosse club and they kicked our butt." 

"We played with a lot of drive in the third period," Mouradian added. "Brandon Miller came in and made some big saves for us and next thing you know we’re back in the game, but then our guys just ran out of gas." 

Despite only out-shooting the Wings 52-50 for the game, the Roughnecks used a strong fourth period to overpower the Wings and hand them their second less in as many days.

"We’re maybe not as good as we were in the first game, and not as bad as we were tonight,” Mouradian said when asked about the state of the team. "We're somewhere inbetween."

The Wings are in action again at 11 a.m. Feb. 8 at the Wells Fargo Center. against the winless Rochester Knighthawks (0-3).