Air Force Academy
Iona
No. 19 Falcons Roll to 17-5 Victory Over Iona
10/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 19, 2008
USAFA, Colo. - Outscoring its opponent 15-3 over the final three quarters, the 19th-ranked Air Force water polo team out together a dominating 17-5 win over Iona Sunday morning at Cadet Natatorium. With the victory, the Falcons improve to 12-8 overall on the season, while the Gaels fall to 11-16.
The first period was closely contested, with Iona getting on the board first with a score from Joe Przekota. While Air Force scored the next two goals, the Gaels tied it up once more, as Nick Velasquez scored with just 24 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Falcons regained their advantage early in the second period, as sophomore Bobby Geiger (Buellton, Calif.) scored on a penalty shot to spark an Air Force run. A pair of goals from senior Miles McMullan (Irvine, Calif.) sandwiched around a pair of scores from Jack Hines (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) gave the Falcons a 7-2 lead with just 22 seconds left in the half. Iona seemed to be headed for a second period shutout, but Trevor Creighton tallied a goal with three seconds remaining to cut the Gaels' deficit back to four.
Air Force continued its offensive attack in the third period, as Hines scored yet another goal off the opening sprint. The Falcons registered three goals in the next two minutes, and a man-up goal by Alex Churnside (Jr., Orange, Calif.) gave Air Force a 12-3 advantage with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Meanwhile, the Gaels managed again to avoid a shutout, with Przekota scoring on a penalty shot.
Hines opened up the scoring in the final period once more, followed by the second goal of the day from senior Tyler Hewko (Laguna Hills, Calif.). With their reserves in the contest, the Falcons registered three more goals down the stretch, to gain the 17-4 advantage, before Iona's Ed Gronkowski put the Gaels back on the board with 34 seconds remaining.
For the second-straight day, nine different Falcons scored in the contest, led by Hines' five scores, two of which came on rebounds of his own missed shots. McMullan added three goals, while Hewko and senior captain Kevin Williams (River Forest, Ill.) each notched two goals. Other scorers included Geiger, Churnside, Matt Versage (So., Merced, Calif.), Taque Patino (Fr., Rockford, Mich.) and Anson Harvey (Fr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.).
The Falcons are back in action next weekend, Oct. 25-26, for four road games. Air Force will play Santa Clara and Cal Baptist at Santa Clara on Saturday, followed by games with UC Davis and Long Beach State at UC Davis on Sunday.
No. 19 Air Force 17, Iona 5
Iona 2 1 1 1 5
Air Force 2 5 5 5 17
Iona Scoring: Przekota 2, N. Velasquez, Creighton, Gronkowski
AF Scoring: Hines 5, McMullan 3, Williams 2, Hewko 2, Versage, Geiger, Churnside, Patino, Harvey
Players Mentioned
