No. 15 Air Force Splits Pair of WWPA Contests

Nov. 7, 2009

ORANGE, Calif. -

Playing in its final weekend of the regular season, the 15th-ranked Air Force water polo team split a pair of conference games Saturday at Chapman. The Falcons rolled to a 10-2 victory over the host Panthers, while dropping a 9-4 decision to fifth-ranked Loyola Marymount. Air Force moves to 15-12 overall on the season, with an 8-4 mark in the Western Water Polo Association.

Air Force started out its day with an impressive win over Chapman. After holding the Panthers scoreless in the first half, the Falcons put together a 7-2 scoring run after the break, which included a goal from Taque Patino (So., Rockford, Mich.) just before the final buzzer. With the victory, the Falcons improved their all-time record against Chapman to 13-0.

Patino was one of four Air Force players to score two goals in the game to lead the Falcons' offense. Also notching a pair of scores each were Bobby Geiger (Jr., Buellton, Calif.), Jack Hines (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) and Matt Shields (Jr., Gilroy, Calif.), while Matt Versage (Jr., Merced, Calif.) and Kurt Wallin (Jr., Temecula, Calif.) added a goal each. Meanwhile, senior goalkeeper David Ostrom (Mission Viejo, Calif.) tallied eight saves in three periods of action.

The Falcons got out to a strong start against the Lions in the second game of the day, leading LMU 3-1 at the end of the first half. Air Force was still leading, 3-2, when the game was halted at the 4:07 mark in the third period due to a power outage. However, after a two and a half hour delay, Loyola Marymount, which has not lost a conference game since October 2009, took fire on both sides of the pool. The Lions scored seven goals over the final 12 minutes of the game while holding the Falcons to just one additional third period score to take the 9-4 victory.

Senior Alex Churnside (Orange, Calif.) led Air Force with a pair of goals, while Jason Fung (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii) and Versage added the other scores for the Falcons. Meanwhile, Ostrom recorded 10 stops in the contest.

The Falcons wrap up the regular season tomorrow with two more games against WWPA foes. Air Force will visit La Verne at 9:00 a.m. (PT), followed by a game at Claremont at 1:00 p.m.

No. 15 Air Force 10, Chapman 2

Air Force 3 0 4 3 10

Chapman 0 0 1 1 2

AF Scoring: Geiger 2, Hines 2, Shields 2, Patino 2, Versage, Wallin

Chapman Scoring: Mule, Thatcher

No. 6 Loyola Marymount 9, No. 15 Air Force 4

Air Force 1 2 1 0 4

LMU 0 1 3 5 9

AF Scoring: Churnside 2, Fung, Versage

LMU Scoring: Forai 4, Asajavicius 2, Schlegel, Colton, Aki

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.