Falcons Fall To Pacific In Non-Conference Action

Oct. 1, 2004

Hampered by sluggish offense in the first half, the 19th-ranked Air Force water polo team fell to No. 16 Pacific, 14-8, in a non-conference matchup Friday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool.

The Tigers (3-5) came out of the gates fast, opening up a 7-0 lead after the first two quarters. Air Force got on the board with its first goal of the third quarter at the 4:47 mark on a shot by senior Matt Herrera (Orange, Calif.). Justin Berry (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) and Chris Nary (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii) added scores for the Falcons in the third quarter, but the Tigers still held a 10-3 lead going into the final period.

The Falcons would not go away though, as Nary notched back-to-back goals for Air Force to open the fourth quarter and Air Force trailed by five goals, 10-5, with 5:34 to go in the game. Pacific pushed the lead back to seven, 12-5, with 2:40 to go in the game.

Air Force managed to outscore the Tigers 3-2 over the final 2:40, as senior Eric Swenson notched a pair of goals before junior Zach Carey scored with just two seconds remaining. However, it wasn't enough as Pacific won by a final margin of 14-8.

Nary led the Falcons with his three goals, while senior captain Jared Jones (Orange, Calif.) tallied five saves. The Tigers were paced by Dragan Bakic and Julian Gonzalez with three goals each.

The Falcons (1-9) return to action tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. (PT), when they face No. 18 Redlands in the first game of the NorCal Tournament. If they win that contest, they will advance to the championship bracket to face No. 2 USC at 10:30 a.m. Should Air Force fall in the first game, it will move to the consolation bracket to take on the winner of tomorrow morning's Navy-Santa Clara contest. The first consolation game is scheduled for 2:50 p.m.

#16 Pacific 14, #19 Air Force 8
      1 2 3 4 TAir Force     0 0 3 5 8Pacific   2 5 3 4 14
Air Force Goals: Chris Nary 3, Eric Swenson 2, Justin Berry, Matt Herrera, Zach Carey
Pacific Goals: Dragan Bakic 3, Julian Gonzalez 3, Clint McLaughlin 2, Adam Zobler, Kenny Yamamoto, Matt Mitchell, Matt Turnbull, Alex Smith-Jones, Mike Mitchell

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