Air Force Academy
Notre Dame
Falcons Fall to Fourth-Ranked Notre Dame
4/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 4, 2009
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Despite a strong defensive effort in the opening period, the Air Force lacrosse team dropped a 10-4 decision to fourth-ranked Notre Dame Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. With the loss, the Falcons fall to 3-6 overall, 1-1 in the GWLL, while the Irish, one of just two undefeated teams in the nation, improve to 9-0, 2-0 in the league.
The first period was a defensive battle, with Notre Dame scoring the only goal of the quarter, a tally at the 3:51 mark. Nearly 10 minutes went by before the Irish struck again to take a 2-0 second-period lead, while they increased their advantage to five goals with three scores in a span of less than a minute. With just 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter, the Falcons ended their scoring drought, as sophomore Vinny Sandtorv (Centereach, N.Y.) notched a man-up goal with an assist from senior captain Griffin Nevitt (Charlotte, N.C.).
Notre Dame opened the third period with two more goals before Air Force got back on the board with a score from freshman Adam Paranka (Denver, Colo.) with 11:09 on the clock. Paranka, who had missed the Falcons' previous six games due to injury, notched his third goal of the season with an assist from junior Ridge Flick (Plano, Texas). However, the Irish notched another goal less than a minute later to boost its lead back to six. The final goal of the period came with just over six minutes on the clock, as senior Eric Evans (Ellicott City, Md.) capitalized on a man-up opportunity for the Falcons.
A goal from senior long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo (Eden Prairie, Minn.) early in the final period brought the Falcons with four goals, but Air Force was unable to find the back of the net for the remainder of the contest. Meanwhile, the Irish scored two in the quarter, including their only man-up goal of the game, to secure the 10-4 victory.
Though shots for the game were nearly even for the game, with Notre Dame holding a slight 38-36 edge, the Irish got a huge boost from its senior goalkeeper, Scott Rodgers, who registered 16 saves in the contest. Meanwhile, the Falcons' starting goalie, sophomore goalkeeper Brian Wilson (Summit, N.J.) had a season-high 11 saves for the game.
The Falcons are back in action next weekend, April 11, when they head to Louisville, Ky., to face conference foe Bellarmine.
#4 Notre Dame 10, Air Force 4
Air Force 0 1 2 1 4
Notre Dame 1 4 3 2 10
AF Scoring: Goals: Vinny Sandtorv, Adam Paranka, Eric Evans, Dan Gnazzo. Assists: Griffin Nevitt, Ridge Flick.
UND Scoring: Goals: David Earl 3, Ryan Hoff, Mike Creighton, Zach Brenneman, Neal Hicks, Grant Krebs, Duncan Swezey, Peter Christman. Assists: Duncan Swezey 2, Zach Brenneman 2, Neal Hicks, Dan Gibson, Peter Christman.
