Air Force Academy
Denver
Falcons Defeat Denver, 10-7, in Regular Season Finale
4/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 25, 2009
DENVER, Colo. - Playing on the road for the final game of the regular season, the Air Force lacrosse team registered a 10-7 conference victory over Denver Saturday evening at Barton Lacrosse Stadium. With the win, the Falcons finish the regular season with a 7-6 overall mark and a 4-1 ledger in the GWLL.
The victory gave Air Force its best-ever GWLL record, while also guaranteeing the Falcons finish at least .500 for the season for the Falcons for the first time since 1997. Air Force's win over Denver was also its first over the Pioneers since 2002, snapping a six-game losing streak against the in-state rival.
The game started out slowly offensively, with more than six minutes going by in the opening quarter before Denver got on the board with a goal from freshman Mark Matthews. The Falcons responded two minutes later, as senior K.J. Landgraf (Cordova, Md.) found the back of the net with an assist from Eric Evans (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.). The first career goal for Denver defenseman Austin Konkel put the Pioneers back on top with 3:34 remaining in the first period, before Landgraf tied the game back up with his second goal of the day.
The score remained knotted at 2-2 nearly 10 minutes into the second period before an unassisted tally by Evans gave Air Force its first advantage of the game. The Falcons closed out the half with two more unanswered goals, with Ridge Flick (Jr., Plano, Texas) setting up Colin Lockhart (Sr., Richmond, Va.) and Landgraf to give Air Force a 5-2 lead at the half.
Air Force continued its scoring spurt in the third period, with Flick feeding Denver native Adam Paranka for his first goal of the game. Sophomore defenseman Bryan Gilbreath (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) followed up with his own goal to extend the Falcons' advantage to 7-2 with 12:37 left in the quarter. Denver's Joey Murray stopped the Air Force run with his own score less than a minute later, but Gilbreath took an assist from long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) off the ensuing face-off. Nearly 10 more minutes went by before Flick scored his own goal, this time off an assist by Evans, to give Air Force a 9-3 lead, its largest goal of the game.
Denver began to fight back in the final period, scoring the first three goals of the quarter, to cut their deficict to 9-6 with 4:16 remaining in the contest. Freshman John DeBonis (Sayville, N.Y.) tallied his first career goal with 3:32 remaining to put Air Force back up by four while Matthews closed out the scoring for Denver with a man-up goal less than a minute later.
Flick finished the contest with a career-high-matching five points on one goal and a career-best four assists. Meanwhile, Landgraf (three goals) and Evans (one goal, two assists) added three points each.
Next weekend, the Falcons head to the Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament, being held in Birmingham, Mich. The Falcons, the second seed in the tournament will take on third-seed Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on May 1. Meanwhile, top-seed Notre Dame will face fourth-seed Quinnipiac in the first game of the tournament.
Air Force 10, Denver 7
Air Force 2 3 4 1 10
Denver 2 0 1 4 7
AF Scoring: Goals: K.J. Landgraf 3, Bryan Gilbreath 2, Eric Evans, Colin Lockhart, Adam Paranka, Ridge Flick, John DeBonis. Assists: Ridge Flick 4, Eric Evans 2, Dan Gnazzo.
DU Scoring: Goals: Mark Matthews 3, Austin Konkel, Joey Murray, John Dicksenson, Charley Dickenson. Assists: Cory Schaeffler, Mark Matthews, Todd Baxter, Cliff Smith.
