
Don't Look Now, but the Philadelphia Wings are Off to Their Best Start Since 2008
We’ll get it back to the Eagles momentarily, so don’t fret. We’ve got four more days to preview Sunday’s game against the Rams.
Meantime, we need to shout out the second-best team in the region as of January 15th, 2025. It’s not the rebuilding Flyers and it’s certainly not the Sixers. It’s not a Big 5 basketball team. It’s the Philadelphia Wings, who have won four games in a row and might have turned the corner under new head coach Ian Rubel. They are now 4-1 on the season, off to their best start since Obama first took office, and are tied for the NLL’s second-best record. They trail only the defending champion Buffalo Bandits, who are next on the schedule, this Saturday night in New York.
The CliffsNotes is this –
Joe Resetarits and Mitch Jones are tearing it up. Resetarits is tied for first in the league with 41 points, a combination of 12 goals and 29 assists. Jones is tied for third, scoring 14 goals and adding 25 assists. He scored a first-half hat trick this past weekend and the Wings have two legitimate superstars leading the way with a third player named Holden Cattoni who isn’t far behind. We caught up with Jones this week to get his thoughts on the hot start and bring us casuals up to speed:
Crossing Broad: You guys have been playing some great lacrosse. What’s working for you and what’s the story of these last four games?
Mitch Jones: Obviously riding a high on a four-game win streak here. I think the mood for the team is to not get too far ahead of ourselves, keep it one game at a time. We had a tough one on the road in San Diego to start and I think kind of proved to ourselves a lot of things we already knew. We knew we had some talent on this team and we had a pretty good attitude going into the season, from the coaching staff and management all the way down. Trying to keep that one game at a time (mentality) and just keep getting better every game.
CB: What’s been different, the approach and the mindset this year, compared to last year?
Jones: I’ve been in this league long enough to know it’s a fine line between kind of our last couple of years being a six-win team (vs.) being in the top echelon. It’s not that far off. I think our veteran guys knew that. Adding some good young pieces (helps), our coaching staff has been excellent, kind of bringing energy and holding guys accountable. Things have been falling our way. We have a message where you have to worry about yourself and play your game. You may not win every single game where you put a good effort out, but you have to give yourself a chance, and I think with the pieces we have, the roster we have, when we do give ourselves that chance, the odds are pretty good.
CB: What did the coaching change do for the team? Paul Day split up his duties and is still the GM, but you have a new head coach in place and did that move things forward?
Jones: Pauly is a guy who garners a lot of respect, and for good reason. He’s been in this league a long time. He’s won championships and he’s just good to people. I think, while I was sad to see him go, and guys played hard for him, moving Rubes (Ian Rubel) up the ladder and bringing (assistants Pat McCready and Tracey Kelusky) in, it’s just the energy they bring. Rubes is high on accountability and as stand up of a guy as it comes. The other two guys bring a contagious energy and make it fun to be around them.
CB: Let me ask a fill-in-the-blanks question. If this Wings team is gonna take the next step and get into the playoffs and challenge for a title, __________
Jones: I think consistency is gonna be our battle, not getting complacent throughout the year. We obviously have had some early-season success, but that doesn’t take you too far. You’ve got to keep getting better. To fill in that blank, probably consistency and just continuing to improve.
CB: You know that we in the media like to use cliches like “measuring stick” and “barometer” when you’ve got some games coming up against good teams. That’s Buffalo and Vancouver this weekend. Do you guys believe in that? Do you believe in the measuring stick game or is that just something we talk about?
Jones: No, there’s some truth to that. To be honest, every game in this league is a measuring stick. There’s no fluff games. Everyone brings their best effort weekly. At the same time, yeah, if you’re going against the two-time defending champs, I think maybe in past years we’ve gone to that building with more of a ‘hey maybe we can prove ourselves‘ kind of thing and this year there’s a little more confidence behind it, to say ‘hey, let’s take over, let’s see what we’re really made of here.’ Maybe a shift in attitude that way, but you’re going up against the two-time defending champs in their building on a Saturday night in Buffalo and there’s not much more you can ask for if you’re looking to be the best.
CB: Maybe a random question, but you look across the street and see how well the Eagles are playing right now. The Phillies won the division and have been good in recent years. When you see how well other city teams have been playing, and you see the vibe and the buy-in from fans, does that have any tangible effect on you guys, like, ‘hey we want a piece of that too‘? Does it raise your level?
Jones: A hundred percent, yeah. I wouldn’t say it’s the first thing on our mind, but I know (Kelusky) mentioned that last week. He played a lot of lacrosse back in the day, when Philly was winning championships and filling up the barn. He just mentioned that if we keep doing our thing, that’s attainable again. You look around the city and see how the fans are passionate and (get behind) winning teams. That’s obviously something we want to create here. Since the Wings came back, it hasn’t been necessarily sold out. The fans are awesome but it hasn’t been sold out barns, and a huge buzz around the city with a chance at a championship is something we’re striving for. Even the last game was a good example. It was a big Eagles weekend but we had a great crowd come out for an early-season game and definitely it’s something that drives us, and helps us during the game when our fans are on top of it. Being there for us, it definitely goes a long way.
CB: For fans who are sort of on the fence or maybe pay attention to the Wings from afar, what’s your pitch to get them down to watch you guys?
Jones: Man, just get in the building. Everyone who comes to a game raves about how awesome and how fun it is. I find myself doing that around town or online or just naturally, because I myself have been excited about lacrosse for a long time. But yeah, just get yourself in the building. I promise you’re not gonna be disappointed.
Big test this weekend. Wings at Buffalo on Saturday, then Sunday’s home game was moved to Monday night. We’re gonna find out a lot about this 2025 squad over a span of 72 hours.