Air Force Wraps Up Season Against Duke
5/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
May 3, 2007
The Air Force lacrosse team brings an end to the 2007 season this weekend, May 6, when it travels to Durham, N.C., to face second-ranked Duke. The game is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. (ET). A live video stream of the contest will be available at ACCSelect.com.
Scouting the Falcons...
With an 11-9 loss to Denver last weekend, Air Force dropped to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the GWLL.
Sophomore Griffin Nevitt, who notched one goal and three assists against the Pioneers, leads Air Force with 33 points (18g, 15a), while senior captain Will Meister ranks second on the team with 30 points (13g, 17a). Seniors Conrad Lochocki (12g, 10a) and Justin Kuchta (18g, 4a) have each added 22 points on the season.
Head Coach Fred Acee...
Air Force head coach Fred Acee is in his 10th season at the helm of the Falcons' program and his 40th season overall as a collegiate lacrosse coach.
A 1963 graduate of Cortland State, Acee coached at SUNY-Farmingdale, a two-year college on Long Island, for 30 years, compiling an overall mark of 312-119-1 and advancing to the NJCAA Final Four 25 times. Since Acee's arrival at the Academy in the fall of 1997, the Falcons have yearly played top notch Division I schedules, compiling a record of 34-94.
Scouting the Blue Devils...
Duke, rated second in the latest USILA Coaches Poll, enters this weekend with a 13-2 overall record. The Blue Devils captured the ACC Championship this past weekend, defeating defending national champion Virginia.
Senior Matt Danowski has a team-high 66 points (33g, 33a) on the season, while junior Zack Greer is right behind with 65 points (46g, 19a).
Duke is coached by John Danowski (Rutgers, `76), in his first season at the helm of the Blue Devils' program. Danowski has compiled a career mark of 232-141 (25th year).
In the Series...
Air Force and Duke have met just five times in the all-time series, with the Blue Devils holding a 3-2 edge over the Falcons. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2003, when Duke took a 13-8 victory.
Falcons in the Statistical Rankings...
In the latest national rankings through games of April 29, senior attack Will Meister leads the Falcons, rated 20th in assists per game (1.55).
How They Rate...
Duke ranks in the top 10 nationally in four different statistical categories. The Blue Devils are second in man-down defense (.821), fourth in scoring margin (+4.27), sixth in scoring offense (11.6) and ninth in scoring defense (7.33).
Individually, Matt Danowski ranks second in assists (2.2 pg) and third in points (4.4 pg), while Zack Greer rates third and fourth in goals (3.07) and points (4.33) per game, respectively. Also in the national rankings is goaltender Dan Loftus, rated third in save percentage (.631) and ninth in goals against average (7.31).
A Scoring Streak...
Senior Will Meister and sophomore Griffin Nevitt are both in the midst of a 24-game streak with at least one point. The streak began on March 4, 2006, in a loss to UMBC. Meister has now tallied at least one goal or assist in 47 of his 51 career games, including 39 of the past 40. Meanwhile, Nevitt has scored in all but one of his 27 career games. Neither Meister nor Nevitt was able to get a point in the Falcons' 5-4 loss to Manhattan last season.
The Assist Leader...
Senior Will Meister currently sits in seventh place on the Falcons' career assist list, with 81 assists. Meister sits just three assists out of sixth place.
In addition, Meister ranks third among the nation's active career assist leaders. Only Duke's Matt Danowski and UMBC's Drew Westervelt have more career assists.
