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Lacrosse Spotlight:
Swarm Sting Wings with 14-12 Win
Ratcliffe Scores Six Goals in Wings Season Finale

Friday, April 15, 2005

By Jennifer Stefani
Philadelphia Wings Correspondent

The Philadelphia Wings (6-10) were defeated by the Minnesota Swarm by a score of 14-12 in their final game of the 2005 season at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.

"We certainly didn't want to let this game go after the two losses to Toronto this week," said Wings' General Manager and Head Coach Lindsay Sanderson. "Finishing off the season strong was important to us, but we weren't able to get it done."

Minnesota got the first goals of the game when Ryan Ward scored at 1:40 followed by a D'Arcy Berthiaume goal at 3:07. The Wings answered with two goals of their own when Jeff Ratcliffe scored at 4:34 and Keith Cromwell scored at 5:19. The teams traded goals (Teddy Jenner - MN, Dan Finck - PHI) before Philadelphia grabbed their first lead of the game on a power play goal by Andrew Burkholder at 14:39. At the end of the first quarter Philadelphia led by a score of 4-3.

The Wings' Ratcliffe got his second of the game to start off the second quarter. The Wild scored three straight goals (Ryder Bateman, Kelly Hall, Ward) to take the lead by one. Tom Marechek scored his first of the night for the Wings to tie the game at six. The Swarm's Bateman scored his second of the night to put Minnesota up by one followed by Hall's second of the night. At the end of the first half the Swarm held an 8-6 lead over the Wings. Wings goaltender Nick Schroeder had 19 saves in the first half while the Swarm's Nick Patterson had 17.

Philadelphia's Ratcliffe netted his third of the game to pull the Wings within one, but Bateman got his third of the night to put the Swarm up by two again. Ratcliffe scored his fourth, but Tony Henderson scored his first goal of the game for the Swarm to put them up by two again. Marechek got his second of the night to put the Wings within one. At the end of the third quarter the Swarm held a 10-9 lead.

Marechek scored his third of the night for the Wings to tie the game at ten early in the fourth quarter. The Wings regained the lead when Ratcliffe scored his fifth goal of the game at 4:50 followed by his sixth goal at 5:32. The Swarm got their first goal of the quarter when Brock Boyle scored at 6:13. The Swarm's Bateman tied the game at 12 on a power play goal at 7:32. Minnesota regained the lead again when Sean Pollock scored on a power play goal at 8:54. Eric Pacey scored his first of the night to put the Swarm up by two and give his team a 14-12 win. Wings goaltender Nick Schroeder had 32 saves on the night while the Swarm's Nick Patterson had 45.

Leading the Wings in scoring were Jeff Ratcliffe with eight points (6G, 2A), Tom Marechek with five points (3G, 2A), Keith Cromwell and Andrew Burkholder with two points (1G, 1A) each, and Dan Finck with one goal.

Notes: The Wings were eliminated from post-game play for the third straight season when the Rochester Knighthawks defeated the San Jose Stealth on Friday, April 8 ... Twelve-year forward Tom Marechek played his final National Lacrosse League game tonight ... Marechek, the Wings all-time leading point scorer, announced his retirement from indoor lacrosse effective at the end of the 2005 season.


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