Air Force Academy
Grand Canyon
Air Force Rallies to Win on Senior Day
10/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - No. 16 Air Force notched three-straight goals to post its first come-from-behind victory of the season over Grand Canyon (6-9, 3-4 WAC), Sunday afternoon at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons, now 11-1-3 with a 5-0-2 mark in the league, will finish regular season action on the road.
GCU registered the first strike early as a misfire by a Falcon defender yielded Josh Drack a scoring opportunity. Drack led the Lopes with two shots and a goal on the day.
Undeterred by the early strike, Air Force battled back and began to control possessions. In the 33rd minute a foul from atop the Lopes' box yielded Air Force a free kick. Junior midfielder Tucker Bone lined up on the ball and sent a cruise missile into the top right corner of the cage in what appeared to be an unstoppable ball.
The Falcons entered the locker room tied at one with the advantage in shots, 6-3.
Air Force began to open its offense in the second half as they outpaced the GCU defense. In the 62nd minute Bone initiated an attack on GCU's box, sending the ball to Klint Parker in full stride who then redirected to Austin Dewing who plugged in the equalizing goal from within the box. Parker and Bone were credited with the assist while Dewing tallied his second goal of the weekend, third of the season.
Bone was the man on fire as he continued his onslaught on the Lopes' defense. In the 74th minute Bone used fancy footwork to maneuver his way deep into the Lopes' box where he chipped the ball to Danny Han who plugged in the Falcons' third goal of the match. Bone registered his sixth assist of the season; he now leads the Falcons with 16 points.
At the final whistle, Air Force held the advantage in shots, 14-7, led by Dewing and Han who each had four shots apiece with two coming on frame. Bone registered a season-high four points on the match.
Senior midfielder Oscar Chacon led the defensive charge as he held one of the league's most prolific scorers, Niki Jackson, to only one shot on the match. In goal, senior keeper John Wendt registered three saves in his seventh win in Air Force's cage.
"There is no better way to go out on Senior Day," exclaimed head coach Doug Hill. "Coming from behind showed the character of this team. I believe we can go places if we stay focused and continue to take it one game at a time."
"Were constantly improving," continued Hill. "We scored a few goals on set pieces this weekend; Tucker Bone's goal was brilliant, he's been practicing those and he had a tremendous day. We're back on track and now it's time to prove that we can get it done on the road and that's what we're going to focus our efforts on moving forward."
Air Force will travel to the Golden State, next weekend, for a pair of conference matches against San Jose State, Oct. 27, and CSU Bakersfield, Oct. 29.
