By CURT SMITH - D&C Sportswriter - 7/22/1974
Out of Rick Dudley’s shadow and into the limelight last night came Dave Wilfong, leading the Rochester Griffins into first place.
Wilfong, the Griffins’ second-leading goal scorer behind Dudley, scored five goals as Rochester routed Maryland, 21-9, at the Community War Memorial.
The Griffins’ victory, before a crowd of 2,469, lifted Rochester into the National Lacrosse League lead. The Griffins have 31 points to Philadelphia’s 30, even though the Wings have played one more game.
Rochester led all the way last night, thanks largely to Wilfong, who boosted his goal total to 45 (Dudley has 62).
“That’s just the way he plays all the time,” said Griffins’ coach Morley Kells about Wilfong’s performance. “Dave doesn’t seem to get much notice, he’s not flashy. But he’s a great ballplayer.
“Dave is as easy as pie to handle. He just goes out there and does a whale of a job. If we ever win the championship game by an overtime goal, Dave would be the one to score it. He’s a clutch player.”
Wilfong, who returned earlier this month from the World Field Lacrosse Championships in Australia, scored two goals in the first period, both on backhanded flip shots. He followed with his third goal on a breakaway early in the second period.
Wilfong then banged home his fourth goal later in the period before scoring his final goal 25 seconds into the final period.
“I’m finally getting back into shape,” Wilfong said. “The last two games my shots have probably been as good as at any time this year. I was picking my shots tonight and they were going in.
“Even so, I think our defense won it for us tonight. They kept Maryland away from the net. And of course, Merv Marshall (the Griffins’ goalie) played as well as usual. And that’s saying a lot. He’s really great.”
The Griffins, whose victory margin was their widest this year, sealed the outcome in the first period, moving to a 10-4 lead over the Arrows. They upped their edge to 15-7 one period later and coasted home thereafter.
Jan Magee and Glen Neuman scored three goals apiece for the Griffins while Dudley, Kevin Parsons and Bill Hoculik added two each.
Rochester’s defense kept Maryland at bay throughout. One of the Griffins’ key defensive figures was Rick Bisson, who threw several hard checks which drew War Memorial ovations.
“Bisson can do that,” Kells said. “He’s come around recently. As far as Maryland is concerned, I, honestly thought they played badly tonight. I’ve seen them far better earlier this year.
“But they may have been hurt by our game plan tonight. We stuck to it closer than we have for a long time.
“Our whole game plan was to contain Maryland, to make them shoot from outside. We figured they couldn’t shoot that well from outside and I guess we were right.”
