Air Force Water Polo Begins Season Against Denver Masters
8/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Aug. 30, 2001
U.S.A.F. Academy, Colo. - The Air Force Academy water polo team kicks off its season with a scrimmage Saturday at 8 a.m. in the Cadet Gymnasium against the Denver Masters. The game will be a chance for head coach Jeff Ehrlich and new assistant coach Craig Ackley to see how prepared their relatively young team is for the 2001 season. This season's team lost eight of its top nine players to either graduation or injury and Ehrlich is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to see what this team has to offer. Leading the team in the water will be returning starter C2C Chris Smith who scored 35 goals and added 28 assists last season. Smith attended South Pasadena High School where he was an All-American and will be one of the top scoring threats on the team. C1C David Breitenbach will be returning from knee surgery in September and could also be a top scorer and an assett with his left hand. Last year Breitenbach scored 19 goals and added 17 assists. C1C Brian Hasbrouck will be this season's team captain and will also help in guarding two-meters. Hasbrouck was moved from the goal last year to the field and made great strides this spring. C1C Ben Couchman should provide valuable minutes off the bench and help trigger the counter-attack. Other seniors looking to contribute to the team are C1C Josh Fogle and C1C Marshal Haylett. In addition to Chris Smith, the junior class includes Charles Horn and Lowell Wallace. Horn should move to a starting position and help Smith with the two-meter duties. At 6'4" and 205 lbs., Horn has the strongest legs on the team and should be able to do some damage at the set position. Wallace is looking to make the 10-man rotation with his never-ending hustle and hard work ethic. The remaining starters are expected to come from the third and fourth-class cadets. These two classes consist of 23 players with five sophomores who traveled last year on a consistent basis. They include C3C's Brandon Shroyer in goal, and field players Mitch Adams, Scott Butler, Micah Peterson and John Whitehill. Other third-class cadets who made at least one trip last year were goalie Kelly Greiner, and field players Eric Baber, Kirk Reimer and Vincent Urso. During the spring season, Shroyer, Peterson and Whitehill were all on the starting line-up. Butler, who recently underwent shoulder surgery and scored 27 goals as a freshman, is still a question mark on the 2001 season. The class of 2005 is 11 strong and hopes to produce several future stars and a few direct impact players. This recruiting class could prove to be as strong or stronger than that of 2004. It includes Nathan Bajorek, Ryan Gaylord, Matt Herrera, Josh Jewett, Jared Jones, Murphy Morgan, Chris Nary, Chris Prentiss, Josh Shadrick, Eric Swenson and Brian Wooley.
