Falcons Head To SoCal Tournament
10/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 11, 2006
The 16th-ranked Air Force water polo team returns to action this weekend at the prestigious SoCal Tournament, hosted by top-ranked USC. The Falcons will take on seventh-ranked Pacific at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a meeting with third-ranked UC San Diego at 6:30 p.m. Air Force will wrap up its weekend on Sunday, with its schedule still to be determined.
The Rest of the Field... All 12 teams competing in this weekend's tournament are currently ranked among the nation's top 20. Group A is comprised of top-ranked USC, eighth-ranked UC Santa Barbara and 11th-ranked UC Irvine. Group B includes No. 2 Cal, No. 6 Loyola Marymount and No. 13 Pepperdine, while fourth-ranked UCLA, fifth-ranked Stanford and 14th-ranked Long Beach State are in Group C. Meanwhile, No. 16 Air Force is in Group D along with No. 3 UC San Diego and No. 7 Pacific.
Scouting the Falcons... Air Force, currently ranked 16th in the nation, is back in action after two weekends off. In their last weekend of competition, the Falcons dropped three contests--a pair to second-ranked Cal and one to eighth-ranked WWPA rival UC Davis--to fall to 8-7 on the season. Junior Justin Berry, who leads the team with 25 goals on the season, notched a team-high four goals on the weekend, while senior Kyle Schafer added three. Meanwhile, senior goalkeeper Denver Saunders registered 31 saves for the weekend.
Scouting the Tigers... The seventh-ranked Pacific Tigers fell to 10-7 on the season with a pair of losses last weekend. The Tigers dropped a 12-6 contest to Loyola Marymount before falling to USC, 23-12.
The Tigers are coached by Mike Maroney, in his fourth season at the head of the program. Among Pacific's leading scorers are juniors Duje Kaurloto and Dragan Bakic, with 43 and 39 goals on the year, respectively.
Scouting the Tritons... The UC San Diego Tritons, currently ranked third in the nation, are coming off a 13-12 upset of third-ranked UCLA. The Tritons are now 15-2 on the season, with their lone losses coming to Stanford and Cal.
UC San Diego is coached by Denny Harper, in his 27th season at the helm of the program. The Tritons' leading scorer is junior Ty Lackey with 41 goals and 13 assists, while Jesse Casselini has recorded 39 goals and 16 assists. Both Lackey and Casselini have earned WWPA Player of the Week honors this season, along with goalkeeper Jeremy Randall, who has notched 162 saves on the year.
Series Records... This weekend, Air Force and Pacific will meet for the 29th time, with the Tigers leading the all-time series 22-6. The two teams met in the season-opener last month, with Pacific grabbing the 12-9 victory.
Meanwhile, WWPA foes Air Force and UC San Diego will meet for the 60th time this weekend, with the Tritons holding a 47-12 advantage in the series. The teams last met at the 2004 WWPA Tournament, with UC San Diego taking the 10-7 victory.
Up Next... With next weekend off, the Falcons return to action Oct. 28-29 at the Aggie Shootout, hosted by WWPA foe UC Davis.
