Falcon Men's Soccer Heads to the WAC Tournament
11/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Full Notes in PDF 
AIR FORCE vs. CSU BAKERSFIELD
Thurs., Nov. 10, 3:00 p.m. MT
Clyde Field - Orem, Utah
WATCH LIVE | LIVE STATS
AIR FORCE THIS WEEK: The Falcons will play CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, Thurs., Nov. 10, at 3 p.m. MT, at Clyde Field, Orem, Utah. An Air Force win will propel the Falcons to the second round to play two-seed Seattle U, Friday, Nov. 11, at 3:00 p.m. MT.
The WAC Digital Network will be providing live coverage of the tournament. Fans can access the live stream and live stats by going to GoAirForceFalcons.com and clicking the watch live and live stats links in the schedule dropdown.
LAST WEEKEND: Air Force held off WAC powerhouse Seattle U, 1-0, on Senior Day, Nov. 5, at Cadet Soccer Stadium, USAFA. Falcon midfielder Trey Pujats chipped a shot over the Seattle goalkeeper for the game winning goal and Seattle's first regular season conference loss. Air Force displayed their ability to maintain a lead as they are now 11-1-1 against opponents when scoring first. The Falcons delivered Seattle's second shutout loss of the season since falling to No. 2 Akron, Aug. 28.
UP NEXT: The winner of match one in round one will play in match three in the second round against Seattle U, Fri., Nov. 11 at 3:00 p.m. MT. The winner of the second round match will play in the WAC championship match, Sun., Nov. 13, at 1:00 p.m. MT. The tournament winner will be awarded an automatic bid into the NCAA championship tournament.
LAST TIME AT THE WAC TOURNAMENT: The last time Air Force played in the WAC tournament was in the 2013 season, in which the Falcons hosted the tournament. In the first round, four-seed Air Force topped five-seed Houston Baptist, 2-1. In the semi-finals, the Falcons fell, 0-2, to Seattle U. Air Force has had three WAC tournament appearances prior to this season (1996, 1998 and 2013), and are 1-3-0 while playing in the WAC postseason.
THE SERIES VS. CSU BAKERSFIELD: Thursday's match against CSU Bakersfield marks the 11th meeting between the programs. The Falcons lead the series, 5-4-1. The last time the teams played was Oct. 16; Air Force shut the Roadrunners out, 3-0, at Cadet Soccer Stadium, USAFA. Air Force is 4-0 against CSUB while playing at Cadet Soccer Stadium. In all matches combined, the Falcons outscore the 'Runners, 18-12; in all matches played at home, the Falcons outscore the 'Runners, 11-4. When playing in overtime, the teams are even at 1-1-1.
WENDT EARNS WAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Air Force's John Wendt has been named Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, for Oct. 31 - Nov. 6. Wendt, a junior goalkeeper from Sylvania, Ohio, made six saves to hand Seattle U its first WAC loss of the season with his fifth shutout of the year. Four of the saves came in the second half as the Redhawks fired off 10 shots but the netminder used his athleticism to keep the ball out of the net and keep SU scoreless for just the second time this season.
The Falcons have won the honors four times this season. Austin Dewing and Trey Pujats were dubbed WAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, Sept. 26, respectively. Jake Schenk earned the honors on Sept. 12.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Air Force as a team has logged 113 points from 39 goals and 35 assist at the end of the regular season; marks higher than the previous five seasons concluded with. In 19 matches, 13 different Falcons have logged goals and five Falcons have double-digit points.
NSCAA NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S WESTERN REGION TOP 10 RANKINGS: Air Force remains at sixth in the NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's Western region top-10 rankings for following the win over Seattle U. The Falcons first broke into the polls at No. 7, in week three (Sept. 13). In September of 2015 the Falcons were ranked as high as No. 6. In 2014 they held the No. 1 spot in the western region for a week.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: Air Force made their debut appearance in CSN's Top 30 teams at No. 29 for the weekend ending Oct. 9. Air Force is is currently ranked 80th in the RPI rankings. Utah Valley remains among the nations' best in the latest RPI rankings, sitting at 34. Seattle U is also making sure they are on the radar of the NCAA selection committee, sitting at 62.
AIR FORCE IS FLYING HIGH: Air Force is playing amongst the best in Div. I soccer as they are ranked fourth in the nation in total goals (39), fifth in total points (113), eighth in scoring offense (2.05), ninth in points per game (5.89) and twelfth in assists (35). Air Force leads the WAC in all aforementioned stat categories.
The Falcons are second in the WAC in assists per game (1.79) and shots on goal per game (6.11); marks that rank them 20th and 36th in the nation, respectively.
The Falcons displayed their ability to play on the road finishing the regular season road slate at 5-3-1. In all five of the conference road matches, the Falcons logged 10 goals.
In the 1-0 shutout over GCU, the Falcons held the Lopes' explosive scorers to nil in front of a home crowd exceeding 3,800 fans. The Falcons put up a two-goal shutout over Houston Baptist; a pitch they have had trouble winning on in the past. In the match against Incarnate Word, the Falcons logged four goals; their fourth four-goals plus performance this season. In their only conference loss on the road, UNLV edged by the Falcons, 3-2. In their only tie this season, Air Force left UTRGV's pitch knotted at one on Oct. 29.
In 10 conference matches, Air Force has registered 17 goals, 16 assists and 50 points. The Falcons are tied for second in the WAC in goals and goals per game when playing conference opponents with a 1.80 Avg/G. They are tied for second in the WAC in assists and assists per game when playing conference foes.
