By Mayer Brandschain, INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT
The Philadelphia Wings finished the regular season in first place with a dramatic 15-12 victory over the Baltimore Thunder before a sellout crowd of 17,380 last night at the Spectrum. It was the Wings’ seventh victory in eight games.
The defeat cost Baltimore a playoff spot.
The Wings, who will be trying to defend their Major Indoor Lacrosse League championship, will meet the fourth-place Buffalo Bandits at Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium on Saturday. If they win that game, they will play in the final on April 8.
The Wings were ahead by 3-0 after 4 minutes, 21 seconds on goals by Gary Gait, Gary Martin, who ran the length of the floor, and Chris Flynn, who connected on a diving shot. Baltimore finally beat Wings goalie Dallas Eliuk at 5:44.
Eliuk gave way to Andy Piazza at the start of the second half, with the Wings ahead by 6-3.
After each side was held to only one goal over the second and third quarters, Baltimore made a rush from 7-4 to lead by 8-7 three minutes into the fourth period. The Wings then showed their resilience and charged back with four straight goals in three minutes.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, March 12, 1995)