No. 20 Falcons Head to Slugfest Tournament
9/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 24, 2008
The 20th-ranked Air Force water polo heads to the Slugfest Tournament, hosted by UC Santa Cruz, this weekend, Sept. 27-28. All four of the Falcons' contests will be against fellow conference opponents. Air Force opens up the weekend on Saturday with an 8:30 a.m. game against the host Slugs, followed by a contest against Occidental. Sunday's action begins at 8:00 a.m. against Cal Lutheran, with the Falcons facing off against 16th-ranked Redlands in the final game of the weekend.
Last Time Out...
The Falcons are coming off a tough weekend, going 0-5 against five of the nation's top 20 teams. Air Force dropped a road contest to then-third-ranked Stanford, before going winless in the NorCal Tournament. Following a big loss to currently top-ranked USC, the Falcons lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to then-10th-ranked UC Santa Barbara. Air Force then wrapped its weekend, falling to No. 13 Navy and No. 17 Cal Baptist.
Leading the Air Force offense last weekend was sophomore Matt Versage, who tallied six goals, including four against Cal Baptist, while three others added five goals each.
Scouting the Falcons...
The Air Force Falcons, ranked 20th in the latest coaches poll, enter this weekend with a 2-7 overall record and 2-1 mark in the Western Water Polo Association.
The leading goal scorer for Air Force this season is junior Alex Churnside, with 13 goals, while junior Jack Hines is right behind with 11 goals. Meanwhile, senior Tyler Hewko (7g, 11a) has a team-best 18 points.
Scouting the Banana Slugs...
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, in their final season as a varsity program, enter this weekend with a 5-1 overall record (1-1 against varsity competition). The Slugs were last in action two weeks ago at a tournament hosted by Fresno Pacific, splitting their two contests with the Sunbirds.
UC Santa Cruz is coached by Alan Cima, in his ninth season at the helm of the program.
Scouting the Tigers...
The Occidental Tigers enter this weekend with a 2-5 overall record. The Tigers went 2-1 at last weekend's Cal Lutheran Tournament, falling to the host Kingsmen, while defeating Fresno Pacific and La Verne.
Occidental is coached by Larry Zubrin, in his fifth year at the helm of the program. Leading the Tigers' offense is senior Andrew Valdes, who is tied for eighth in the nation with 24 goals on the season.
Scouting the Kingsmen...
The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen currently hold a 4-4 record on the season. CLU went 3-1 at its own tournament last weekend, knocking off Fresno Pacific, Occidental and Chapman, while falling to Concordia.
Cal Lutheran is coached by Craig Rond, in his sixth season leading the Kingsmen. Among the top players for CLU is two-time All-American Matt Heagy.
Scouting the Bulldogs...
The Redlands Bulldogs, ranked 16th in the nation, enter this weekend with a 7-3 overall record. The Bulldogs went 4-1 at their own Inland Empire Classic two weeks ago, defeating Whittier, Occidental, Chapman and Concordia, while falling to Pacific.
Redlands is coached by Tom Whittemore, in his 21st year at the helm of the program. Senior Andrew Becskehazy and junior Brendan Meaney pace the Bulldogs with 21 and 20 goals on the season, respectively, while goalkeeper Teddy Trowbridge has racked up 71 saves through 10 games.
Series Records...
This weekend, Air Force and UC Santa Cruz will meet for the 17th time in the series. While the Falcons hold a 13-3 edge in the series, the Banana Slugs won the last contest between the two teams, a 6-4 decision in the 2006 WWPA Tournament.
The Falcons hold a 4-1 advantage in their series with Occidental, the lone loss coming in 1978. The two teams last met in 2005, with Air Force capturing a 13-7 victory.
Air Force and Cal Lutheran have met just once before, with the Falcons picking up a 16-8 victory over the Kingsmen in 2007.
Air Force holds a 20-7 advantage in its all-time series versus Redlands, but the Bulldogs won the meeting between the two teams earlier this season, 13-7.
Up Next...
The Falcons are back in action next weekend, Oct. 3-4, at the Claremont Convergence Tournament, hosted by WWPA foes Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer.
