Air Force Academy
Denver
Falcon Lacrosse Drops Match to No. 2 Denver
2/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Game Highlights Coaches Post-Game Interview
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - Air Force lacrosse dropped a 10-9 match to No. 2 Denver, Saturday, Feb. 13, at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium. The loss marks Air Force's second of the season while Denver opens their regular season slate with a road win.
Denver outscored the Falcons, 6-2, in the first quarter with goals coming from five different players. Freshman Nate Marano led the Pioneers with two goals in the first nine minutes of play while Air Force's Cameron Carter and Chris Allen tallied a goal apiece.
Denver's Tyler Pace scored two goals in the second quarter while the Falcons Nick Hruby and Austin Smith tallied a goal apiece to shorten the Pioneer's lead to 8-4 going into halftime. Air Force held the first half advantage in shots (20-15) while Denver held the advantage in groundballs (17-12), saves (10-3), and faceoffs (12-2).
The Falcons entered the second half firing on all cylinders, holding Denver to zero goals while tallying five goals to take their first lead of the game with 28 seconds left in the third period. Carter logged a goal and assist while Chris Walsch, Marcus Ward, Grant Gould and Andrew Tien tallied a goal apiece in the third.
Air Force entered the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run and the lead at 9-8. After a scoreless 13 minutes in the final period, the Pioneer's Nate Marano, made two goals in quick succession to regain the Pioneer lead, 10-9, with 1:53 left in regulation. The game would be a close battle down to the final seconds as Denver held the Falcons to a scoreless fourth quarter to finalize the game at 10-9.
Air Force held the advantage in shots (40-27), while Denver had the advantage in ground balls (34-23), faceoffs (16-7), and saves (13-6).
"We have a pretty resilient group, that's been characteristic of Air Force teams forever," said head lacrosse coach Eric Seremet. "There are no moral victories, our players need to figure out a way to get it done, we believe in ourselves, we believe we could have won that game."
"I'm really proud; the difference between this week and last week is we didn't leave anything on the table," said Seremet. "We can't spot the defending national champions six goals then crawl our way back, but we did and we did crawl back because we've got some pretty tough kids who are starting to believe in themselves."
Air Force returns to action on the road against Marist on Feb. 20, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. at 12:00 p.m. ET
