Event Spotlight:
Wings Mark Millon Scores 300th Career Point In Season Opener
Saturday, December 30, 2000
PRESS RELEASE
ROCHESTER, NY - Philadelphia Wings' player Mark Millon scored his 300th career point (171G, 129A) tonight when he added three points (1G, 2A) in the Wings win during the first game of their 2000-01 season, a 17-16 win over the Rochester Knighthawks at the Blue Cross Arena in front of a crowd of 9,870. The Wings home opener is Friday, January 12 at the First Union Center against the expansion Ottawa Rebel at 8:00 p.m. Jake Bergey earned game Most Valuable Player honors, scoring six goals and five assists.
"It's pretty exciting to score my 300th point with the Wings," said Millon. Millon, an eighth year veteran, was acquired mid season last year from Syracuse. This is his first full season with the Wings where he has been making significant contributions to the team. "I've always wanted to play in Philadelphia. They have a winning tradition and I'm excited to be a part of it."
"The team has been working very hard in the pre-season to prepare and seem to be gelling nicely," said Wings' coach Tony Resch. "We have a solid group of veterans playing with Jake Bergey, Tom Marechek, Mark Millon and Dallas Eliuk leading the team. Our rookies Jeff Ratcliffe and Jay Jalbert are warming up to the indoor game nicely and were able to make an impact tonight. Tonight's win was a great way to bring in the New Year."
In the first quarter, Rochester opened up the scoring, but the Wings quickly answered with three goals, two by Jake Bergey and one by Tom Marechek. Rochester's John Grant scored one, only to be followed up by two more from Wings players Mark Millon and Kevin Finneran, to make the score Wings 5 Rochester 2. The Wings and Rochester then traded a pair of goals. Rochester evened up the scoring at six by adding another three. The Wings scored twice more before the end of the quarter to make it 8-6 with goals from Marechek and Finneran.
Rochester again scored first in the second. The Wings' Jason Clark added his first of the season to take the score to 9-7. Rochester scored two more to even the score again at nine. With 1:34 left in the half, Tom Ryan scored to bring the lead into the locker rooms, 10-9. Wings' goalie Dallas Eliuk stopped 22 of 31 Knighthawk shots in the first half.
Starting the second half, Bergey scored to increase the Wings lead to two. Rochester answered with two goals, then a both teams traded goals to even the score at 12. Rochester gained their first lead of the game after a goal by John Grant late in the third, only to have Bergey quickly tie it up again to end the third at 13.
In the final quarter, the game remained close with either team leading by no more than two at any time. The teams traded goals, then rookie Jeff Ratcliffe scored to take the score to 17-15. With :11 remaining in the game, John Grant added another goal, but the Wings held on to win with a final score of 17-16. Eliuk made 37 saves as he faced 53 shots.
Jake Bergey led the Wings in scoring with eleven points (6G,5 A). Five other players scored goals for Philadelphia, including Tom Marechek (4G, 4A), Jason Clark (2G, 2A), Tom Ryan (1G, 3A), Mark Millon (1G, 2A), Kevin Finneran (2G, 3A) and Jeff Ratcliffe (1G).
John Grant led the Knighthawks in scoring with eleven points (7G, 4A). Four other players scored for Rochester, including Casey Zaph (1G, 2A), Brad MacArthur (2G, 1A), Cory Bomberry (3G, 8A), and Duane Jacobs (2G).
NOTES: Tonight's game was the first ever played by the team in the month of December. Dave Stilley was named Wings Team Captain on December 28, 2000, while Tom Marechek and Jake Bergey were named Alternate Captains. Tickets to the Philadelphia Wings home opener on Friday, January 12 at the First Union Center versus the expansion Ottawa Rebel are available at the First Union Center Box Office, at all TicketMaster outlets, online at TicketMaster.com or by calling (215) 336-2000.
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