Following a strong season opener against the Chicago Shamrox, the Wings host the Rochester Knighthawks this Friday, January 18 at the Wachovia Center at 8 p.m. The home opener was the first behind the bench for new Wings’ Head Coach Dave Huntley, who is looking forward to this weekend’s contest against Rochester.

“The most important thing is that we came into the first game healthy and we are obviously feeling good about the effort the guys put forth on Saturday,” said Huntley. “We’re anxious to get things going again this week.”

The upcoming game will be a true test for the Wings as they face a strong Rochester squad who currently hold the 2007 NLL Championship Title. The two teams have met 32 times since 1995 with the Knighthawks leading the series 18-14.

“They [Rochester] are the defending league champs; we have our work cut out for us,” commented Huntley after the Wings’ win last Saturday. “The guys are up to the task and I think we have a good shot.”

The Wings will rely on their strengths at both ends of the field to overcome Rochester this weekend, and are confident with Rob Blasdell in the cage, as well as scoring leaders Athan Iannucci (5G, 1A), Rookie Merrick Thomson (4G, 2A), and Jake Bergey (4G, 2A) who led the Wings’ offensive efforts against Chicago last weekend.

The Rochester Knighthawks are currently 1-1 and are coming off of a loss following their game against Buffalo last Saturday. Knighthawks’ leading scorers include Shawn Williams who recorded five points (2G, 3A) in his last game and John Grant who posted four points (1G, 3A) against Buffalo. Goaltender Pat O’Toole currently has 76.6%  save percentage is expected to start in goal for the Kinghthawks this Friday.