No. 19 Air Force Opens Season at Triton Invitational
9/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 2, 2009
The 19th-ranked Air Force water polo team starts the 2009 season this weekend as it travels to La Jolla, Calif., to compete in the annual Triton Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego, Sept. 5-6.
The Falcons, competing in Group A, play sixth-ranked conference rival Loyola Marymount and top-ranked defending national champion USC on Saturday, followed by a contest with WWPA foe Pomona-Pitzer on Sunday. Air Force's final match-up of the tournament will be determined based on the results of the weekend.
The Triton Invitational Field...
The 2009 Triton Invitational features eight teams, six of which are nationally ranked, including five teams ranked in the top 10. No. 1 USC, No. 6 Loyola Marymount and Pomona-Pitzer join Air Force in Group A. Meanwhile, Group B consists of No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 10 UC San Diego and Cal Lutheran.
Scouting the Falcons...
The Air Force Falcons, ranked 19th in the national preseason poll, are coming off a 17-15 season and sixth-place finish at the WWPA Championship. The Falcons bring a wealth of experience to the pool this season, with their top three scorers from 2008, along with starting goalkeeper and reigning team MVP David Ostrom.
Junior Bobby Geiger, who led the Falcons with 52 goals in 2008, returns to anchor the Air Force offense, along with seniors Jack Hines and Alex Churnside, who contributed 46 and 44 goals, respectively, last season. Churnside was also the team's top all-around scorer in 2008, adding 33 assists for a team-best 77 points.
Head Coach Jeff Ehrlich...
Head coach Jeff Ehrlich is in his 11th season at the helm of the Air Force water polo program. He came to the Academy in 1999 after a 25-year stint at Villa Park High School in Orange County, Calif.
Since his arrival at Air Force, Ehrlich has led the team to a combined 147-143 overall record. Additionally, the Falcons have been nationally ranked in the top 20 at the end of nine of Ehrlich's 10 seasons, with a best final ranking of 13th in 1999.
Scouting the Lions...
The Loyola Marymount Lions, ranked sixth in the 2009 preseason poll, compiled a 21-10 overall record last season, going undefeated in the WWPA en route to their second-straight conference title.
LMU is coached by John Loughran, in his 13th year at the helm of the program. The Lions are led by a pair of two-time All-Americans, juniors Tibor Forai and Andy Stevens. Forai led LMU with 53 goals in 2009, while Stevens led the nations in saves last season with 308.
Scouting the Trojans...
The USC Trojans, the top-ranked team in this year's national preseason poll, went 29-0 in 2008 en route to the program's fourth national title (and third in the last six years).
USC is coached by Jovan Vavic, in his 15th year at the helm of the program. The Trojans return their top three scorers from the undefeated 2008 season, All-Americans J.W. Krumpholz, Shea Buckner and Matt Sagehorn. Krumpholz, the only collegiate member of the 2008 silver-medal-winning U.S. Olympic water polo team and the winner of the Cutino Award and National Player of the Year Award, had 43 goals for the Trojans last season. Meanwhile, Buckner added 42 goals, followed by Sagehorn with 40 scores.
Scouting the Sagehens...
The Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens finished the 2008 season with a 14-18 overall record and 8-2 mark in the SCIAC. The Sagehens also finished eighth at the WWPA Championships in 2008.
Pomona is coached by Alex Rodriguez, in his fifth season at the helm of the program. Leading the Sagehens in 2008 will be juniors Ryan Balikian and Ben Hadley, who ranked among the top 30 goal scorers in the nation last year with 56 goals each and earned all-conference honors for their efforts.
Series Records...
Air Force and Loyola Marymount meet for the 40th time this weekend, with the Falcons holding a slight 21-18 edge in the all-time series. However, LMU has won 11 straight contests between the teams, including a 16-6 victory in 2008.
The meeting between Air Force and USC is the 15th in the series, with the Trojans undefeated against the Falcons. The two teams met last year at the NorCal Tournament, as USC secured a 19-1 victory.
Meanwhile, the Falcons hold a 15-0 advantage in their series versus Pomona, including a pair of victories last season.
Air Force Picked Fifth in WWPA Preseason Coaches Poll...
For the third-straight season, the Falcons were selected to finish fifth in the Western Water Polo Association, as chosen by the conference's head coaches in the 2009 preseason poll. Two-time defending champion Loyola Marymount was a unanimous choice to repeat as the WWPA's top team.
UC San Diego finished second in the voting, with 141 points. Santa Clara and UC Davis were selected as the third- and fourth-place picks in the coaches' poll, respectively, while Air Force, which finished third in 2007, rounded out the top five.
Redlands was selected to finish sixth in the WWPA, followed by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Rounding out the conference rankings were Cal Lutheran, UC Santa Cruz, Occidental, Whittier, Chapman and La Verne.
In the Record Books...
Senior Alex Churnside currently sits among the Academy's top 25 career scorers, ranking 17th with 190 career points (108g, 82a). Churnside just needs four more points to move into a tie for 16th place and 27 points to break into the top 10. Meanwhile, Churnside is just 14 assists away from moving into the top five in the Falcons' record book for career assists.
In addition, two other Air Force players--senior captain Jack Hines and junior Bobby Geiger--could move into the top-25 scoring list by the end of the season. Hines (113 points) and Geiger (102 points) need to reach the benchmark of 162 career points to move into the top 25 past 1978 graduate John Wellsfry.
Up Next...
Air Force hosts its first and only home tournament of the season next weekend, Sept. 11-13. The Falcons will welcome Cal Baptist, St. Francis and club team Lindenwood to the East Meets West Tournament, which will be held at the Cadet Natatorium. Air Force will take on Cal Baptist Friday night, followed by games against Cal Baptist and St. Francis on Saturday. The Falcons will wrap up the weekend Sunday with contests versus St. Francis and Lindenwood.
