CROSSEFIRE BURN WINGS ON LAST MINUTE GOAL
January 22, 2000
Articles from
Philadelphia Newpapers
Box Score
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- Kip Fulks scored his third goal of
the game with just 27 seconds left in regulation time to lift the
Pittsburgh CrosseFire to a 16-15 victory over the cross-state
rival Philadelphia Wings tonight in Mellon Arena. Fulks’s
heroics earned him Game MVP honors. He also added one assist.
The rollercoaster ride reached its highest point when Pittsburgh’s
Neil Doddridge put a long bounce shot through the middle behind
Wings goalie Dallas Eliuk at 8:07 of the fourth to set the stage
for the last minute winner by Fulks. Doddridge’s goal had
tied the game at 15 after the CrosseFire had fallen behind 15-13
in a game which they’d once led 9-4.
The contest was a scrappy affair which saw over 60 minutes in
penalties, including 38 in the first quarter alone. By scratching
out the win Pittsburgh snapped a two-game losing streak to even
their record at 2-2 while the Wings, idle since the opening night
of the National Lacrosse League’s third season (January 7),
fell to 1-1.
With his parents in attendance, Doddridge was an offensive force,
leading his team in scoring with seven points on four goals and
three assists. Philadelphia got six points (2+4) from Kevin
Finneran, who was playing in his 97th consecutive game (regular
season and playoffs combined), a new pro indoor lacrosse record.
A crowd of 4,521 braved the cold and snow in the return of the
sport to the city where the Pittsburgh Bulls played in the Major
Indoor Lacrosse League from 1990-1993. The CrosseFire played the
last 13 seasons in Baltimore where they were known as the Thunder.