By Jennifer Stefani
Philadelphia Wings Correspondent

BUFFALO, NY - The Philadelphia Wings had their playoff hopes all but dashed with an 8-7 loss to the Buffalo Bandits at HSBC Arena. In order to make the playoffs, the Wings must win their final regular season game against the Bandits tomorrow night at the Wachovia Center at 8 p.m. In addition, the Toronto Rock will have to defeat the Rochester Knighthawks and the Minnesota Swarm must defeat the Portland LumberJax in order for the Wings to qualify for post-season play.

"We were in a situation tonight where we could still control our own playoff destiny and it was disappointing that we couldn't get it done," said Wings' General Manager and Head Coach Lindsay Sanderson. "We have to look forward to tomorrow quickly to recover and keep ourselves in this playoff race."

Buffalo's John Tavares got his team of to a fast start with the first goal of the game just :39 into the first quarter. The Wings' Jeff Ratcliffe got his team in the game with his first of the night at 3:27 in the first. Ratcliffe would go on to get a hat trick in the first half of the game and give his team a 5-3 lead going into halftime.

The second half of the game was a tightly fought defensive contest. Philadelphia had the first goal of the half at 7:05 in the third (Shawn Nadelen). Buffalo then scored five straight goals to regain the lead for the first time since the first quarter. The Wings' Dan Marohl scored on a power play goal at 10:52 in the fourth, but the Wings still fell short as Buffalo earned an 8-7 win that will give them home field advantage throughout the National Lacrosse Playoffs.

Leading the Wings in scoring were Dan Marohl with five points (2G, 3A), Jeff Ratcliffe with four points (3G, 1A), Sean Greenhalgh with three points (1G, 2A), and Shawn Nadelen with one goal. Goaltender Matt Roik had 51 saves on the night.

Leading Buffalo in scoring were Dan Teat with four points (2G, 2A), Kim Squire with three points (2G, 1A), John Tavares with three points (1G, 2A), Mark Steenhuis and Pat McCready each with two points (1G, 1A), and Kyle Couling with one goal. Goaltender Steve Dietrich had 39 saves on the night.