Wings Fall, PBLA Alum Sowers Shines in Season Debut
By: Cayden Stewart
Despite a dominant first half from forward Michael Sowers in his return from IR, the Philadelphia Wings fell to the Rochester KnightHawks 16-13 on Friday night.
Sowers opened the scoring for Philadelphia just over six minutes into play with a stellar wrist shot from the right side of the floor. Defenseman Patrick Foley picked up an assist on the play.
Quickly the Knighthawks had an answer, as forward Connor Fields returned the favor with a goal of his own from just beyond the crease. Forwards Kyle Waters and Ryan Lanchbury added helpers.
“He’s unbelievable,” said Head Coach Ian Rubel about Sowers postgame. “He had a great game. We know what (Sowers) can bring to this team. He’s a tough check for anybody, and he played well.”
These quick-occurring goals followed a flurry of excellent goaltending during the first six minutes of play. Wings goalie Nick Damude amassed ten saves in the short span before allowing his first goal. Rochester’s Riley Hutchcraft recorded five saves of his own in the opening minutes.
Stemming from an illegal crosschecking call on Rochester defenseman Chad Tutton, forward Brennan O’Neill put Philadelphia back in front with a power play goal, adding to his team high eight goals on the young season. Forward Phil Caputo recorded an assist on the play.
Less than a minute later, Sowers added a second goal from the same spot to bring the lead to two just nine minutes in. This time it was defenseman Liam Patten recording the helper.
In the late stages of the first quarter, Philadelphia went a man down for the first time following a goaltender interference call on forward Alex Pace. This however was no matter for Sowers, who recorded his third goal of the first quarter, this time coming a man down. Transition player Chris Corbeil added an assist.
Right off the ensuing faceoff, defenseman Mitchell Armstrong took a faceoff win straight to the house and added an unassisted goal to an already impressive first quarter showing for Philadelphia’s offense.
Sensing a need for momentum, forward Thomas McConvey added a second goal for the Knighthawks with just 13 seconds remaining in the quarter. Lanchbury and forward Connor Fields recorded assists on the play.
Damude’s first quarter deserved more than an honorable mention as well, as he recorded 18 saves in the 15 minute frame compared to just two goals allowed.
Forward Eric Fannell began the second-quarter scoring with a great spin move and shot, stemming from an assist by O’Neill. Rochester once more put together a quick response as transition man Matt Gilray, assisted by defensemen Tyler Biles and Jacob Piseno, connected with a goal on the other end.
Philadelphia followed suit with O’Neill notching his second goal of the game with assists by forwards Joe Resetarits and Sam LeClair. This goal proved especially vital for the Rochester goalie staff, as starter Riley Hutchcraft was pulled from the game after his seventh allowed goal. Rylan Hartley replaced Hutchcraft in net.
Again, Rochester had an answer in the form of McConvey, as an assist by Fields marked his third point of the first half. Forward Ryan Smith also recorded an assist.
This second McConvey goal seemed to be the true spark to the Knighthawks offense, as Fields and Forward Graydon Hogg added goals in sequence. Hogg’s came on a power play as Rochester took advantage of a man-up opportunity for the first time. Lanchbury recorded assists on both goals, and Piseno picked up a second on the Fields goal.
However, when in doubt, find Michael Sowers. In a fadeaway-esque style, Sowers whipped a shot just over the shoulder of Hartley, making his fourth goal of the first half. This time, assisted by Patten and transition man Evan Messenger, and putting the Wings back up by two.
“We have a great system that puts us American guys and athletes in great spots,” said Sowers postgame. “On top of that we have guys like (Resetarits) and (Riorden) who have been mentors for us younger guys.”
Rochester Defenseman Tyler Biles and Philadelphia’s Patten would exchange two minute penalties in the latter stages of the second quarter, but the difference between the two came on the penalty kills.
While Rochester was able to erase Biles’, Smith netted a goal for the Knighthawks to cut the deficit to one. Fields earned an assist on the goal.
After being down by as many as four goals in the first half, Rochester’s Gilray recorded his second goal of the second quarter to even the score at eight all.
Even in a high scoring first half, Damude looked stellar in net for Philadelphia. He saved 32 shots in just the first 30 minutes, and was a consistent strong point. Hartley also looked good in his first half minutes, allowing just one goal on seven shots.
Resetarits began the second-half scoring with his first goal of the night, following yet another point from Sowers, this time coming via an assist. Rochester responded quickly with a Lanchbury goal, albeit one that needed some help as Damude caught a piece of the shot, but not enough to fully clear the net. Hogg and Fields assisted the goal.
Forward Blaze Riorden picked up the loose change left by Damude by sprawling out in the crease for his first point of the night on the other end. Riorden’s goal was assisted yet again by O’Neill.
Rochester came storming back looking for their first lead of the night, and very nearly took it. Transition man Josh Medeiros evened the score at ten with his first goal, but a second was just barely waved off due to a crease violation.
This go-ahead goal for the Knighthawks would come just a few minutes later though, as forward Zed Williams, assisted by McConvey and Fields, fired home the 11th Rochester goal of the night. This 11th goal allowed would prove to be Damude’s last shot seen, as Deacan Knott took over in net from that point on.
“We needed a change in momentum,” said Coach Rubel postgame, describing what went into the change in net. “Two goals went in from far out and we wanted to change it up a bit.”
The Knighthawk lead would also be short lived, as Caputo evened the score. O’Neill continued to add to his team lead in points, with an assist on the Caputo goal marking his fifth of the night. Riorden also added an assist.
Following an assist from Fields, McConvey became the second player to record a hat trick on the night, as his third put Rochester back in front by one. The lead was then compounded shortly thereafter by a Smith goal, helped out by Lanchbury’s fifth assist, and Waters’ second.
Transition man Jeremy Thompson continued the Knighthawk scoring run into the fourth quarter with an unassisted fast break goal, just sneaking past the Philadelphia defense. Philadelphia tried to come back with firepower on the other end, but Hartley looked excellent in the possession, recording saves on back to back shots.
Hartley and the Rochester defense had reached their stride in the late third and early fourth quarter, as the Wings’ offense went without a goal for nearly 19 minutes until the very end of regulation.
Fields added yet another goal for good measure, as his dominance of the box score continued from these teams’ last meeting. Fields recorded 11 points when they met in Rochester, and impressively bested that with a 12-point performance, headlined by a hat trick. Waters and Thompson also added assists.
Lanchbury put the final nail in the coffin with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter with an empty net goal, bringing the Knighthawk lead to a game-high five goals.
The Wings wouldn’t go down without a fight though, as Defenseman Dustyn Birkhof found the net in the dying seconds of the frame to bring the deficit back to four and end the scoring drought at 19 minutes. Sowers and Resetarits recorded assists on the goal.
Resetarits went on to add a goal to his impressive night, as Corbeil recorded an assist, but it would be no matter to Rochester as the Knighthawks came out on top 16-13.
“We had breakdowns in the fundamentals,” said Coach Rubel. “We didn’t get into shooting lanes when we should’ve been in shooting lanes, and we paid for it.”
Cade's Starters 