by Mark Kram, Daily News Sports Writer
Whenever the subject of John Tucker comes up, Philadelphia Wings coach Dave Evans gets this wide, “Can-You-Believe-This-Guy?” grin on his face and just shakes his head. He has coached Tucker for five Major Indoor Lacrosse League seasons, and it just amazes Evans how dependable the former Johns Hopkins All- America has been.
“Whenever we have needed a goal, or a big hit, or loose ball picked up, John has been there,” Evans said. “He ignites us.”
Tucker did just that last night. In a physical playoff semifinal in front of a Spectrum crowd of 10,185, Tucker scored five goals and assisted on four others to lead the Wings to a 14-12 victory over the Baltimore Thunder. Goaltender Dallas Eliuk stopped 35 Baltimore shots and later observed that the Wings are “peaking at just the right time.”
The Wings, runners-up in the American Division, are scheduled to square off in the second round of the playoffs against the New York Saints at the Nassau Coliseum Saturday. The Saints are the American Division Champions.
“This is the time of the year to get it together,” Eliuk said. “We just seem to be getting better and better.”
The Wings had defeated Baltimore twice this season: 16-12 in Philadelphia in February and 20-9 in Baltimore in the final regular-season game in March. However, it always is a tough, hard-checking game between the two teams, and last night was no exception. “All of our players know the Baltimore players,” Evans said. “There is a lot of pride involved.”
The Wings opened the scoring when Tucker scored a power play goal at 2:39 of the first period. However, Baltimore scored three unanswered goals at that point and led, 3-1, when Rob Hoynes grabbed a pass from Tucker and beat Thunder goaltender Tom Manos in close to cut it to 3-2. Baltimore led, 4-3, at the end of the first quarter.
The Wings surged to the lead in the second quarter. Although Manos blocked a total of 36 Philadelphia shots, he cracked in the second quarter when Tucker scored at :19 of the quarter and added two quick assists, one to Paul Deniken and the other to Scott Gabrielsen. Baltimore appeared to have become passive. Thunder coach John Stewart called a timeout with his team behind, 6-4.
Evans told his team that he expected Baltimore to “come out and hit harder.”
“I told our team, ‘Be prepared,’ ” he said, ” ‘I can guarantee the game is going to become more physical.’ “
The Thunder scored twice and tied it up, 6-6, at 11:18 on the second quarter. However, Philadelphia struck back again: Tom Burt scored on a pass from Ricky Fried and the Wings led, 7-6, at the half.
Tucker opened the scoring in the third quarter on a power play goal at 3:23, but Jeff Jackson answered it at 6:26. At that point – with Philadelphia up, 8-7 – a brawl broke out between Deniken and Jim Huelskammp. When order was restored and Deniken and Huelskammp were sent off for fighting, Tucker scored again and Fried connected to give the Wings a 10-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Two quick Baltimore goals closed the lead to one, but Fried and Tucker scored within 30 seconds of each other and John McEvoy added still another Philadelphia goal to give the Wings a 13-9 lead. The Thunder cut that lead two, but Deniken scored his second goal at 14:04. Brian Kroneberger scored seconds later, but it proved to be inconsequential.
Tucker showered and hurried from the locker room without comment, but Eliuk sat at his dressing stall and savored the victory. Sweat dripped off his face and drenched his undershirt.
“Baltimore generated a lot of opportunities toward the end,” Eliuk said. ”We were lucky the clock ran out on them.”
He smiled and added: “This was a sweet win.”
(Philadelphia Daily News, March 30, 1992)