Black Wolves chasing a division title
Final 2 games of regular season are this weekend
Kevin Crowley still lives in the Philadelphia neighborhood near the famed Rocky Statue and he is the co-founder of Fusion Lacrosse, a teaching facility in nearby West Chester.
One title he no longer holds is that of a professional athlete in a city where they take their athletes with the utmost seriousness. The Philadelphia Wings, who drafted Crowley into the National Lacrosse League in 2011, relocated to Mohegan Sun Arena beginning with the 2015 season, becoming the New England Black Wolves.
“It's a case where you don't really know what you've got 'til it's gone,” Crowley, a native of New Westminster, Bristish Columbia, said of being able to play in his adopted home town of Philly. “It's a little sad that way.” Sad. But well worth it, too. The Black Wolves, 10-6, have done something no other NLL team Crowley has played on has ever done: win.
The team, under first- year coach Glenn Clark, has already tied a franchise record with 10 wins, rebounding from a 4-14 season a year ago and can add to that with games scheduled this weekend at Buffalo today (7:30 p.m.) and at home Sunday vs. Rochester (6 p.m.)
New England has already clinched a home playoff berth and a sweep of this weekend's games, the final two of the regular season, would clinch the NLL's East Division title on a tiebreaker over Buffalo (12-5).
A 6-foot- 4 forward, Crowley has 87 points this season for the Wolves, with 32 goals and 55 assists.
New England was picked last in the nine-team league in a preseason poll conducted by Inside Lacrosse.
“Right away, the new coaching staff that came in brought a different culture and attitude,” Crowley said of the turnaround. “We brought in guys like Jordan Hall and (reigning league MVP) Shawn Evans; that's obviously a con-
tributing factor.
“It's nice to be on a winning team. It makes a long year when you're not winning games. We've got a great locker room, a lot of great guys. It's nice to be proving ourselves against some of the better competition. And it's no luck; those are hard-earned wins.”
Evans, who played last season in Calgary, leads New England with 49 goals and 68 assists for 117 points. The Wolves have a number of talented scorers — Pat Saunders has 72 points, followed by Kevin Buchanan with 56 and Kyle Buchanan with 54 — in addition to goalie Evan Kirk, who is the NLL leader with 582 saves.
New England defeated defending league champion Saskatchewan 1413 on April 8 at Mohegan Sun and has won both previous series of back- to-back games they have played this season.
Since being drafted, Crowley played for Philadelphia teams that went 7- 9, 7- 9, 6-10 and last year's Wolves team which was 4-14. He has tasted the playoffs with the Wings and last year after being traded for a brief time to the Toronto Rock.
“(Losing) wears on you as an athlete, it wears on you as a coach. Those guys will have a little jump in their step,” said Clark of the several holdovers from the Philadelphia sqaud. “They're dedicated to their team and their franchise. I'm sure it feels good from their perspective.”
Crowley, meanwhile, said the players have enjoyed their tenure in their new city, too. Prior to home games, they stay at the hotel at Mohegan Sun, meaning they can roll out of bed prior to a shootaround and not even need a coat.
“It's really cool,” said Crowley, who lost his voice last week while coaching lacrosse at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pa. “It's a small venue, but it feels like people are sitting right on top of you. We see a good amount of people in our top deck. It's awesome. It's a unique place to play. We love it. We love the fan support.”