No. 17 Falcon Lacrosse Travels to No. 3 Denver
2/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Weekly Release 
No. 17 AIR FORCE at No. 3 DENVER
Saturday, Feb. 11, 1:00 p.m. MT
Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, Denver, CO
Altitude TV | Watch Live on PioVision | ESPN 1600 Radio | THIS WEEK: Air Force lacrosse travels north on Interstate-25 to take on perennial powerhouse and 2016 Big East Championship finalist, No. 3 Denver, Sat., Feb. 11, at Peter Barton Lacrosse Field, Denver, Colo. The Falcons and Pioneers are scheduled to meet at centerfield at 1:00 p.m. MT.
LAST TIME THEY MET: In the 75th meeting between the programs, Denver edged by Air Force, 10-9, Feb. 13, at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium, USAFA. The Falcons registered five unanswered goals in the third period in an attempt to rally, but the Pioneers added two in the fourth period to seal the deal with a one-point margin. Cameron Carter led the Falcons with two goals while, seven other Falcons tallied a goal apiece. Denver's Nate Marano had the highlight performance with four goals, including the tie-breaking goal and the game winner.
THE SERIES: Air Force and Denver will meet for the 76th time, in Air Force's longest running series, Saturday afternoon. The Falcons lead the series, 52-23, with Air Force notching their most recent victory in 2009. The teams first met in 1967, the Falcons' first year, where Air Force registered a 10-9 victory in their final game of their inaugural season. Air Force's largest margin of victory has been by 25 points, three times, since the teams started playing.
TUNE IN: Mike Evans and Devin Farrell will provide commentary for the Altitude TV broadcast of the game. Altitude's feed will also be streamed live on Denver's PioVision platform. A cable subscription is required to tune into Altitude TV, and a PioVision subscription is required for watching the live stream on the Denver Athletics website.
Tyler Maun will provide a live radio broadcast on ESPN Denver 1600. Live stats, play-by-play and updated box scores will be provided via GameTracker on the Denver Athletics platform. Fans can access the live stats at goairforcefalcons.com and clicking the live tracking link in the schedule dropdown.
UP NEXT: The Falcons will open their 2017 home slate in their fourth meeting with Marist, Feb. 18, at Falcon Stadium, USAFA. The teams are slated to meet at centerfield at 12:00 p.m. MT. A live stream will be provided by Falcon Vision and live tracking will be provided via GameTracker on the Air Force Athletics platform. Fans can access the live stats and stream by going to goairforcefalcons.com and clicking the live links in the schedule dropdown.
HRUBY OPENS WITH A HAT TRICK IN DUKE UPSET: Nick Hruby registered four goals for a hat trick performance to lead the Falcons to an 11-10 upset win over perennial powerhouse, No. 10 Duke, Sunday, Feb. 5, at Koskinen Field, Durham, N.C. The Coppell, Texas, native registered three goals in the first half and added a lead-extending goal in the fourth period. The Falcons' win over Duke marks the second one-point win in Durham in two straight seasons. Before last season's win, the last time Air Force beat Duke was in 1975.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: The 2016 Southern Conference champions checked in at No. 17 in Inside Lacrosse's annual preseason rankings. The ranking marks Air Force's first time in the national preseason polls. Eric Seremet's Falcons are returning from a program-high 15-game win streak and the team's best finish in program history.
SOCON FAVORITES: Air Force was narrowly selected as the favorite to claim the 2017 Southern Conference men's lacrosse title, as voted by all eight of the league's coaches. The coaches also voted on a 14-player preseason all-conference team for the conference's third season of men's lacrosse.
Air Force nabbed six first-place votes and 48 total points to take the top spot in the poll. The Falcons, who finished last season with a 15-3 mark, including 7-0 in SoCon play, claimed three representatives from three different positions to the preseason all-conference team in senior attackman Chris Walsch, junior midfielder Andrew Tien and sophomore defenseman Brandon Jones.
AIR FORCE AT DUKE HIGHLIGHTS:
