Falcon Men's Soccer Tops Gonzaga, 4-1
9/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - Sophomore forward Austin Dewing led the Falcons' charge in the commanding 4-1 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Sunday afternoon, at Cadet Soccer Stadium. Air Force improves to 6-3 on the season while remaining undefeated at home. The Bulldogs drop to 6-3-1.
What started off as a stubborn defensive match became a high scoring game for the Falcons at home. In the 42nd minute, junior midfielder Oscar Chacon centered the ball from the right wing where John Sims met it with a header to notch the first goal of the game and a 1-0 lead going into half time.
"Defensively we were connected," claimed head coach Doug Hill. "We fixed some of the errors we experienced on Friday and the defense did a great job shutting down their forwards."
The Falcons outshot Gonzaga, 4-1, in the first period of play. Senior goalkeeper Jake Schenk took the starting role for the Falcons, making a save before retiring to the sideline with strained muscle at the half.
Air Force struck first in the second period with Austin Dewing's third goal of the season off the goalkeeper deflection in the 55th minute. Team captain Cameron Duley initiated the strike that led to the deflection.
Dewing and Duley made a second connection in the 66th minute as Duley sent the ball across the field to Dewing in full sprint down the right side. Dewing shook one defender and took a shot to the lower right corner of the goal to notch his second goal of the game. Dewing now leads the Falcons in goals (4), assists (4) and points (12).
The Bulldogs made their first strike in the 75th minute as Jake Kempf notched his first goal of the season, taking advantage of the one-on-one scenario with John Wendt in goal. Wendt logged four saves on the day.
With the game at 3-1, Klint Parker charged the Bulldog penalty box with some smooth dribbling to find an open Luis Martinez across the box. Martinez took two quick taps and fired the ball into the right side of the goal for his first career goal.
The Bulldogs were unable to get passed the Falcon defense as the clock expired. The Air Force win marks their third home victory in as many tries. The Falcons outshot the Bulldogs, 12-8, at the final whistle.
"I was extremely happy with we played on both sides of the ball today," exclaimed Hill. "We kept them at zero for a pretty long time and our offense was clicking; John Sims pulled off a brilliant header and Dewing just had an outstanding game, it was a tremendous team effort."
"We're happy to go into conference play on that kind of high," Hill continued. "The objective going into conference is to win every game at home and snag some games on the road and I think we are where we need to be to do that."
Air Force kicks off Western Athletic Conference play with two matches on the road next weekend as they travel to Texas to take on Houston Baptist on Friday, Sept. 30, at 7:00 p.m. CT, and Incarnate Word, Sunday, Oct. 2, at 1:00 p.m. CT
