By James H. Jackson - Baltimore Sun 1/10/1988
LANDOVER — Kirk Thurston’s unassisted goal 2:33 into sudden-death overtime gave the Washington Wave a 14-13 Major Indoor Lacrosse League victory over the Philadelphia Wings before 6,681 at the Capital Centre yesterday. Thurston, a rookie from the University of Maryland, cut across the slot from the left boards and fired a shot as he was being checked to the carpet.
The ball eluded Wings goalie Vinny Pfeifer, who was screened on the play, and gave the Wave the victory in the hard-hitting season opener. “Overtime is overtime, and Thurston made a great shot,” said Pfeifer, who made 24 saves in the second half for Philadelphia.
“Washington had a great third quarter, and we had a better fourth quarter, but they scored the goal when they had to. I think the crowd, considering all the alternatives the fans had today like football and basketball on TV, showed this is a sport on the incline, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
“I think we put on an exciting show for everyone who showed up. I know I would have liked to have watched this game.”
Philadelphia — led by John Tucker, John Conley, Pat Lamon and John McGeeney — owned the first and fourth quarters and the Wave — thanks to Gary Hanley, Pat O’Conner, Mark Gold and Rick Sowell — controlled the middle quarters.
The Wings jumped off to a 3-1 lead, but Washington battled back to tie the score, 5-5, at halftime. The Wave pulled into a 12-7 lead in the third quarter, scoring four goals in span of 1:44. Philadelphia battled back in the fourth period, scoring five goals in eight minutes to take a 13-12 lead.
However, Gold, on an assist from goalie Jim Beardmore, tied the score with 1:15 remaining to force the overtime. The Wings had the first chance to score in overtime when Tucker fired a shot that Beardmore saved. For his efforts, Tucker was checked viciously into the rear boards and had to leave the game.
Moments later, Thurston scored his game-winner. “I just felt a little woozy,” said Tucker. “I got my bell rung, but I’m OK. It was a great game; the breaks just didn’t fall our way.”
Glen Little, the Wave coach, said he was pleased with his team’s play. “The game was exciting, hard-hitting and for the most part, well-played. I was very proud of the way the team played. I think we could have executed a little better.
We could have had better ball movement, and we ran ourselves into problems. But we did the job when we had to do it. We had good cohesiveness when we had to have it. “I take the blame for screwing up the fourth quarter and almost losing the game for us. I let us become too lackadaisical when we got the five-goal lead. I learned something today. I’ll never be happy with even a 10-goal lead in the future. I’ll try to keep pouring it on. Philadelphia showed what happens when you relax in this game,” Little said.
MILL commissioner Darrell Russell and owner Russ Cline both said they were extremely pleased with everything involved. “The game was exciting and the fans were involved the entire way,” said Cline. “You have to be pleased with the fan turnout, considering the snow on the ground, the games on television and the fact that Saturday afternoon is not one of the most highly sought after time for a sports contest.”
