The Philadelphia Wings silenced the Toronto Rock 11-10 with an all-around team victory on Monday night in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with Matt Rambo and Blaze Riorden finding the back of the net in the first quarter. The second quarter saw more evenly matched play as Philadelphia scored five to Toronto’s four.
The third quarter began, and the fans held their collective breath as Philly has struggled most of the season in this quarter. Both teams found the back of the net one time each. Toronto outscored Philadelphia 5-3 in the fourth, but was not enough to secure their ninth consecutive win.
And while there were many stars of the night, the star who shined the brightest was Zach Higgins. His 55-save spectacular was what allowed the Wings to pull out the win.
“It helps to have a big win on Saturday. You want to keep that momentum going, and we all fought today,” Higgins reflected. “The boys were putting them in good spots for most of the game. [I could] see the ball… and get back and make the saves when I needed to. When they’re playing like that, I want to make sure I want to make sure I’m making the saves that I make.”
Also having a big night was Blaze Riorden, who jumped right into how good the win felt.
“That was huge… This team knew that if we stuck together and played Philly lacrosse; we have a great net minder and it starts there. And we supported him, and listened to our coaches, these were the results that we’re getting. We got through tough times and adversity, and that’s the game. We’re 2-0 [this] weekend, and this is a game of momentum, so we’ve got to keep going.”
Riorden also focused on his love of Philadelphia and his teammates.
“I’m a product of my teammates. You know, I’ve played a lot of games. I love this team. I love this city. And I love doing whatever it takes to get this result. And I’m just proud to be a Philadelphia Wing.”
On Toronto’s end, Tom Schreiber had two goals and four assists, while Dan Craig had four goals and two assists. Dan Dawson was held pointless after recording his 1500th point earlier in the weekend.
Toronto next matches up against Albany while Philadelphia will meet New York.
