No. 15 Air Force Splits Two at Convergence Tournament

Oct. 2, 2009

CLAREMONT, Calif. -

In its first two games of a five-game weekend, the 15th-ranked Air Force water polo team put together a 1-1 record at the Convergence Tournament, being played at Pomona-Pitzer. The Falcons dropped a 13-10 contest to 14th-ranked Concordia before picking up a 10-8 win over Western Water Polo Association foe Whittier.

After playing Concordia just two weeks ago in a 6-5 overtime loss, Air Force (5-8, 3-2 WWPA) again found itself in a close contest against the Eagles. At the end of one quarter, the score was tied at 4-4, but Concordia went on top in the second period, outscoring the Falcons 3-1.

Air Force came back within a goal by the end of the third period, and midway through the final quarter, had come back to tie the game at 10-10. However, the Eagles shut out the Falcons down the stretch to take the 13-10 victory. Junior

Bobby Geiger (Buellton, Calif.) was Air Force's leading scorer against Concordia with three goals, while Alex Churnside (Sr., Orange, Calif.) and Kurt Lemmen (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) each added a pair of scores. Also getting on the board for the Falcons were Versage, Hines and Fung with a goal each.

Meanwhile, in a brutal match-up against conference rival Whittier, Air Force found itself trailing its opponent 3-2 after one period, but took the lead by outscoring the Poets, 3-0, in the second quarter. Whittier managed to tie the game again at the end of the third period, 7-7, setting up a crucial fourth quarter.

With the two teams trading goals to start the final stanza, the game was tied at 8-8 before junior Kurt Wallin (Temecula, Calif.) tallied a pair of goals to put the Falcons ahead for good in the 10-8 Air Force victory.

Churnside added three goals to Wallin's two scores to pace the Air Force offense. Also scoring for the Falcons were Lemmen, Geiger, Matt Shields (Jr., Gilroy, Calif.), Taque Patino (So., Rockford, Mich.) and freshman Cruz Smithson (Capistrano Beach, Calif.), who was knocked out of the game in the first quarter due to injury.

The Falcons return to action tomorrow for two more games, both against WWPA opponents, in the Convergence Tournament. Air Force will take on Redlands at 11:40 a.m. (PT), followed by a 3:40 p.m. contest versus Occidental.

No. 14 Concordia 13, No. 15 Air Force 10

Air Force 4 1 3 2 10

Concordia 4 3 2 4 13

AF Scoring: Geiger 3, Churnside 2, Lemmen 2, Versage, Hines, Fung

CUI Scoring: N/A

No. 15 Air Force 10, Whittier 8

Whittier 3 0 4 1 8

Air Force 2 3 2 3 10

WCScoring: N/A

AF Scoring: Churnside 3, Wallin 2, Shields, Lemmen, Patino, Geiger, Smithson

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