Road win big for Thunderbirds

Eric Fannell scored three times as the Halifax Thunderbirds soared to an important 14-10 road victory over the Philadelphia Wings in National Lacrosse League action Saturday night in Philadelphia.

The Thunderbirds evened their record to 7-7 and move a game ahead of the Wings (6-8) for fourth place in the East Conference standings as the regular season heads into the final month of play.

After dropping four of five games – three of which were by one goal – Halifax has won two straight, including an important 14-2 win over the Toronto Rock at home on March 18.

“That was probably our biggest game of the season so far,” Thunderbirds defender Tyson Bell said. “The last four or five games were definitely the toughest of the season. To come off that win against Toronto, we brought the same intensity level toward this game.”

Cody Jamieson collected two goals and four assists, Randy Staats had five points and Ryan Benesch tallied two goals and two assists to pace the Thunderbirds in their second straight win. Benesch surpassed 1,200 career points, becoming the seventh player in league history to reach that milestone.

Fannell’s hat trick goal capped a three-goal run for Halifax in the second quarter to increase its lead to 7-2. The Thunderbirds went into halftime ahead 8-4.

Ryan Terefenko, with two, Chris Boushy, Clarke Petterson, Austin Shanks and Dawson Theede also scored for Halifax. Warren Hill made 38 saves for the win.

Mitch Jones paced the Wings with three goals and four assists and Ben Mcintosh netted four goals. Defender Alex Pace of Halifax had two assists and nine loose balls.

The top four teams from the East Conference and top three from the West Conference, plus a wild card entry with the best record between the fourth-place team in the West and the fifth-place finisher in the East will qualify for the NLL playoffs.

The Thunderbirds return home for a Sunday matinee on April 2 when they host the Georgia Swarm at Scotiabank Centre.

“Now going back to Halifax to play Georgia it’s pretty vital to keep rolling with what we have here and make a big push for the rest of the season,” Bell said.

“We have four games left. The season could go any direction. But I think where we’re at right now is where we want to be and we’ll be in a good spot come playoff time.”