Mohegan — Callum Crawford scored the game-winning goal in overtime, sprawling headlong in front of the net to earn the New England Black Wolves their fourth win in as many games to begin the season, the best start in franchise history.

But, as Crawford would admit later, Wolves goalie Doug Jamieson won it for his team about five times before that.

Crawford scored 3 minutes, 47 seconds into sudden death and Jamieson held the Philadelphia Wings scoreless for the final 21 minutes, 44 seconds, as the Black Wolves topped National Lacrosse League East Division rival Philadelphia 8-7 Saturday night before 4,084 fans at Mohegan Sun Arena.

The win followed two straight bye weeks for New England and halted a three-game winning streak for the Wings.

"I was terrible tonight," Crawford said. "Our defense and our goaltending played unbelievable. They overplayed high (prior to the game-winning goal) and I knew I could beat whoever was on me in a footrace. But thank goodness our defense and goaltending was unbelievable."

"I had a good feeling," Jamieson said, asked about the first four back-and-forth minutes of the overtime session.

The Wings won the faceoff in overtime and quickly called a timeout. Jamieson, however, would make what Wolves coach Glenn Clark would later call "two crucial saves in overtime."

Crawford scored on the Black Wolves' fourth trip down the floor in OT, assisted by Tony Malcom and John LaFontaine. Crawford finished with three goals to lead the team, but took 14 shots. He was coming off a game Dec. 27 in which he had a career-best 14 points in a win against the New York Riptide, putting him past the 1,000-point mark for his career, but Philadelphia defended him well, he said.

"I just kept messing up over and over and over," Crawford said. "It was time to man up and get to the front of the net a little bit."

The Wolves trailed 5-2 at halftime, blanked by the Wings in the second quarter. Crawford struck first for New England in the third quarter, though, connecting on a bouncer from the left side to pull within 5-3, Joe Resetarits made it 5-4 and Malcom — acquired in the offseason from Vancouver — scored unassisted in transition to make it 5-5.

The Wings led 7-6 on a goal by Matt Rambo with 2:57 to go in the fourth quarter, but that would be Philadelphia's last against Jamieson, who lowered his goals-against average to 8.5. Resetarits tied it 3:36 into the fourth quarter.

Jamieson (50 saves) and counterpart Zach Higgins (47 saves) stonewalled the normally potent offenses — New England was coming off a 21-goal performance and Philadelphia scored 18 the last time out — for the remainder of regulation.

"You can never discount, not give enough credit to your opponent," Clark said of the low-scoring nature of the game. "They imposed their will on us (in the first half). We did a good job of we kept it tight. (New England) did look like a team that hadn't played in three weeks. But I don't want to diminish what Philadelphia did either. It was a good win against a very good team."

Resetarits scored twice for New England and Stephan Leblanc had a goal and three assists. Malcom and Reilly O'Connor each had a goal and an assist.

Matt Rambo had three goals for the Wings.

Crawford said the halftime discussion centered around the team's self-proclaimed camaraderie.

"'Can you say you love playing with this group of guys when things aren't going well?' That was kind of the challenge a little bit there," Crawford said. "To show we're not just saying the right things, but guys are on board doing the right things."

The victory also marked the final game for Wolves general manager Rich Lisk, who has been with the team since its inception prior to the 2015 season. Lisk has accepted the position of executive vice president of GF Sports, a live events and sports media entertainment company based in New York. Clark will take over as the Black Wolves' GM.

v.fulkerson@theday.com