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SLAM! Sports 2001 in Review A LOOK BACK INTERACTIVE ALSO ON SLAM! 
| Friday, April 27, 2001 Philadelphia defeats Toronto in NLL finalTORONTO (CP) -- The Philadelphia Wings beat the Toronto Rock at their own game.Toronto had won two straight National Lacrosse League championships by creating the league's best defence. The lesson wasn't lost on the Wings, who formed a near-impenetrable wall in front of goaltender Dallas Eliuk for three quarters then held on to snatch back the title 9-8 Friday night. Eliuk, who is from Vancouver, was named most valuable player. "Traditionally, we haven't had a very good defensive core," said Eliuk. "Down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs we've improved our defence greatly. "It showed. Toronto couldn't get into a rhythm early in the game like they normally do. We didn't let them get any momentum." Mark Millon scored three goals, Tom Phair and Tom Merechek two each, and Jake Bergey and Jeff Ratcliffe one each for the Wings, who triumphed in 1998 and rebuilt while Toronto rose to the top. Kaleb Toth scored three goals, Kim Squire two, and Jim Veltman, Dan Stroup and Chris Gill one each for the Rock in front of a record lacrosse crowd of 19,409 in the Air Canada Centre. "What I saw out there was a Philadelphia team that was really hungry," said Veltman, the Rock captain. "I've got to give them a lot of credit, coming into an away building in front of a sellout crowd. "It's pretty impressive what they did tonight." Philadelphia led 3-1 after one quarter and stretched their lead to 6-1 in the second quarter. "They jumped all over us," Toth said afterwards. Rock goaltender Bob Watson was watching attackers find free lanes his teammates usually keep closed. Eliuk knew why. "'We cut the middle offensively, and defensively we stepped it up," he said as champagne spray filled the Wings dressing room. "(Rock attacker) Colin Doyle, everybody says it, 'Oh, they're good outside shooters but they don't want to cut into the middle."' Toronto's offence had never faced such a determined defence. Passes were not connecting. Shots were off the net. Eliuk was getting in the way of the rest. With 17 seconds remaining in the first half, Toth faked a pass and bounced a shot past Eliuk on a power play to make it 6-2. Toronto would require an incredible rally to retain its title, and coach Les Bartley hoped Toth's goal was the start. His hopes rose when Toth made it 6-3 seven minutes into the third quarter. But Millon needed only 20 seconds to counter, and Marechek made it 8-3 when he gathered a rebound and planted an over-the-back shot over Watson. "It seemed like every time we tried to put some pressure on them somebody would step up on their team," said Veltman. Veltman and Merecheck exchanged goals early in the fourth quarter, then goals by Squire and Toth made it 9-6 with seven minutes left. Philadelphia tightened its defence and refused to fold. Stroup made it 9-7 with 2:49 remaining. With Watson on the bench for an extra attacker, Gill scored with 2-10ths of a second left. He smashed the butt end of his stick into the end glass when he looked up at the clock. "We kind of buried ourselves early," said Bartley. "We played a little bit tight -- pressure maybe at home in front of a big crowd. The ball was bouncing out of our sticks, which is uncharacteristic for this team. "Our guys continued to fight back, but Philly had a step we didn't have. They seemed to have two guys on every loose ball, when we couldn't seem to get to it. "If we'd scored two or three in a row a little earlier in the game, it might have been a different game. It's a game of momentum and we just couldn't seem to get it tonight." The Toronto players were confident of winning a third straight title after rallying to beat Washington in a semifinal game last Saturday. The Power had beaten them twice during the regular season, while the Rock won both meetings with the Wings. "I don't know if we were a little nervous or what it was," said Toth. "Maybe we were thinking too much about winning instead of taking it a step at a time. "You've got to give them credit. They came out hard. They were the underdogs." Underdogs who had a loud bark, as they showed. "We talked about playing good steady defence, getting timely offensive possessions, and trying to use the shot clock when we got opportunities, which you don't get a lot of against the best defensive team in the league," said Wings coach Tony Resch. "Against Toronto, you have to make them count, and we did that in the early part of the game. "Maybe somewhere deep down we were a little hungrier than Toronto was. That's not a knock on them because Toronto's been king of the hill for a long time. We're especially proud to beat a great team like Toronto." Phair put his house in Brampton, Ont., up for sale last autumn and moved to Philadelphia to make a full-time commitment to the Wings. "We knew we could outrun them," he said. "Their defence is big and slow. "We just had to outhustle them. We just kept runnin', and runnin', and runnin'. One of our owners said, 'The Rock are ripe and they're ready to rot.' It looks like they kind of rotted out." Eliuk, 36, said he might retire now. It's his fifth pro title. "This is certainly the sweetest championship of all," he said. "This is the way I'd like to go out. "I'm getting on in age and my body hurts the morning after a game. I don't know if it's worth it anymore for what we make, $15,000 US. I love the game but my body is paying for it." It's not like old times at all, he added. "Toronto's really slowed the game down," he said of the Rock style of play. "From a spectator's point of view, it's more of a Canadian box lacrosse style, which I think is a boring game to watch. "The old league was a lot of run-and-gun and end-to-end action. That's the way we've played, traditionally. But Toronto has been so successful playing that Canadian style that we incorporated some of that tonight and played tougher defence." The other Canadians with the Wings are Marechek of Victoria, Ratcliffe of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Jason Clark of Toronto, and backup goalie Chris Sanderson of Orangeville, Ont. "I kept telling these guys that all summer I have to listen to Toronto Rock this and Toronto Rock that," Clark said as he looked around the dressing room. "I was sick of hearing it. "They've beaten us seven games in a row. I kept hearing about it. This summer I'll have the bragging rights when I come home for the summer. It feels real good." Notes: Toronto eliminated Philadelphia in the 1999 and 2000 semifinals . . . Toronto beat the Wings 17-11 and 11-7 in the regular season . . . Toronto's average attendance was 16,100 this year . . . At a Wednesday news conference, a 12th NLL team was unveiled for New Jersey. Jayson Williams, who plays for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, will be the principal owner. |