The Georgia Swarm defeated the Philadelphia Wings 13-11 in a closely contested game on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Wings flew out to a 2-0 lead with Josh Currier and Blaze Riorden putting two in the back of the net in a little over two minutes into the game. Georgia then came to life scoring five unanswered goals to end the quarter 5-2.
“We gave them too much respect in the first quarter,” Wings’ head coach Paul Day said.
Georgia continued their run into the second quarter scoring three more goals before the Wings came back. Philadelphia went on a three-goal run to cut the lead to 8-5. Newest Wing Kevin Crowley sandwiched a Josh Currier goal before Georgia scored one more in the half.
Georgia scored once in the third while Philadelphia scored three. The two-goal difference continued into the fourth quarter where each team scored three times, which was not enough to get the Wings into a tie.
Riorden and Currier each had hat tricks for the Wings. Lyle Thompson and Randy Staats each had hat tricks for the Swarm while Staats added four assists and Thompson three. Holden Cattoni (2G/4A) and Zed Williams (2G/3A) also had big games.
Mike Poulin made 49 saves for the win, while Doug Buchan made 29 save after replacing Davide DiRuscio after the Wings fell down 6-2 in the second.
After the game Riorden stated that “whatever the stat sheet says, it only comes down to one thing and that’s winning and losing”.
Crowley had a strong game after having little practice time with the team. He said it was “great stepping back on the floor” and also mentioned that Philadelphia has the “best sports fans in the world.” Those fans let Crowley know how happy they were to see him back in Philadelphia.
The Wings drop to 0-4 with another close loss while the Swarm remain undefeated.
The Wings take on Buffalo at KeyBank Center next weekend while the Swarm are in Toronto to face the Rock.
