For Black Wolves, another dramatic win
Crowley’s goal with four seconds left beats Swarm
Mohegan — The game-winning goal didn't come until much later Sunday.
With Georgia keying on New England Black Wolves star forward Shawn Evans, Evans slipped off to the side as a decoy, bringing his defender with him.
That left the Black Wolves in a 5-on- 4 situation, with the 6-foot- 4 Kevin Crowley striking with 4 seconds remaining for a 16-15 National Lacrosse League victory that sent the 3,744 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena home having seen their second straight walk-off victory.
“A little bit of a scramble,” said Jordan Hall, who assisted Crowley, as the two traded passes in the final seconds. “I wasn't expecting it, so I gave it back to him.”
The motivation for the fire the first- place Black Wolves showed down the stretch, however, came in the third quarter.
Evans, a two-time NLL MVP who is in his first season with the New England team after being traded from the Calgary Roughnecks, was sent to the penalty box for a delay of game penalty that didn't seem as if it should have been a delay of game penalty.
The 30-second shot clock did not reset when the Black Wolves took possession and therefore went off after just a few seconds. Evans fired a shot after the shot clock buzzer had already sounded, though, which garnered him a delay despite the fact the missed reset was an error.
Evans argued his way to the penalty box and coach Glenn Clark added a lengthy discussion with the officials, who upheld the penalty.
“I was kind of mad,” said Evans, who scored his 300th career goal
lier in the game and finished with three goals and seven assists for 10 points. “It was a close game. We just started coming back (after trailing 8-6). “I fired myself up. I fired the team up.” The Black Wolves (5-2, a game ahead of Buffalo for the East Division lead) responded with five straight goals, going from down two (9-7) to up three (12-9).
The Wolves began their run with a short-handed goal without Evans, with Crowley assisting Hall.
That pulled them within 9-8 with 5 minutes, 38 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Kevin Buchanan then scored with the shot clock winding down, Evans scored on a sidearm shot to give New England the lead and Hall and Buchanan added goals, both assisted by Evans, who had a hand in six straight goals after his return.
The teams traded leads to the finish. Crowley spun and scored to make it 15-14 with 3:04 left, but the Swarm tied the game on a goal by Johnny Powless with 31.4 seconds to go.
That set up one final play for the Wolves, who won their last game at Mohegan Sun 17-16 in overtime over the Toronto Rock, Feb. 14.
“There's pressure on them,” Clark said of the fire his team showed after the penalty to Evans. “They're professionals. They're being paid. They want to win.”
Hall, who was traded to the Black Wolves on Feb. 12 from the Rochester Knighthawks, finished with three goals and six assists, while Crowley had three goals and three assists and Kevin and Kyle Buchanan each had two goals.
Hall, a lefty, was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft, is a two-time league champion with 498 career points and has fit in nicely with the other components of the New England offense. The Wolves now have six high-powered scorers in Evans (22 goals, 30 assists, 52 points), Crowley (36 points), Pat Saunders (30 points), Kevin Buchanan (30 points), Hall and Kyle Buchanan.
Evans, meanwhile, scored the Wolves' first goal of the game Sunday, spinning around a defender, for his 300th career goal. He now has 302 goals (22nd all-time in the NLL), 539 assists (8th) and 841 points (11th).
The Black Wolves return to action next Saturday at Colorado (9 p.m.) before three straight games with Rochester. v.fulkerson@theday.com Twitter: @vickieattheday