by Tom Hoffman
Outsider's Guide Game Correspondent
The Rochester Knighthawks overcame the loss of goalie Steve Dietrich early in the 1st quarter and ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Philadelphia Wings 15-12 in front of 15,183 fans at the First Union Center.
Backup goalie Derek General turned in a 43 save emergency performance that earned him Game MVP. Rookie Casey Powell also chipped in with a 4 point night in his NLL debut. For the Wings, Tom Marechek lead the way with four goals while Jake Bergey tallied six points (2+4).
The game opened with two open net goals. Dan Teat took advantage of a Matt Oglesby turnover to open the scoring. The Wings would tie the game on an open netter, a play that cost the K'Hawks the services of Dietrich. Dietrich collided with Jim Rogers chasing a loose ball that Rogers eventually would put home to tie the game. Dietrich tore his anterior cruiciate ligament, and is out for the remainder of the season.
After goals by the Philadelphia's Adam Mueller and Rochester's Randy Mearns, John McEvoy would give the Wings their final lead of the night at 6:49 of the first. Rochester scored five of the next six in the first quarter and both goals in the second to take a 9-4 lead into halftime. One of the Rochester goals in this stretch was the first professional goal for Casey Powell.
The Wings fought back in the third, scoring three straight goals (McEvoy, Marechek, Bergey), to cut the Rochester lead to 9-7. Rochester then followed with three goals of their own (Jacobs, Kruger, McCready) to regain their five goal lead. With the aid of two shorthanded goals during a Mike Busza penalty, the Wings would score the next five goals, including Kevin Finneran's lone goal of the game, which tied the score at twelve.
Rochester scored the game-winner twenty seconds later on Dan Teat's second goal of the game. Chris Driscoll added the final two tallies to send the Wing faithful home unhappy. The Wings frustrations became evident in the final minute of play with a couple of minor scraps but no major fights.
The Knighthawks had a balanced scoring attack, with five players (Teat, Driscoll, McCready, Kruger and Jacobs) all scoring two goals. For the Wings, they now have to take an 0-3 record into Baltimore next week for the Championship rematch with the Thunder. This is the Wings worst start since also going 0-3 in 1992. For the K'Hawks, they will try to make it two in a row Saturday with a home match against Syracuse and Paul Gait.