Air Force Academy
High Point
Falcon Lacrosse Downs High Point in Season Finale
4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
HIGH POINT, N.C. - Air Force downed the High Point Panthers, 16-11, in the regular season finale of SoCon action, in High Point, N.C., Saturday afternoon. Grant Gould led the way with a personal-best five goals, while Nick Hruby registered his third four-goal performance of the season.
The Falcons (10-5, 6-1 SoCon) will enter as the top seed for the second consecutive year in the 2017 Southern Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship, which will be held this Thursday and Saturday at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The four-team tournament will also feature Richmond (11-3, 6-1 SoCon), Furman (7-7, 6-1 SoCon) and Jacksonville (3-10, 3-4 SoCon).
The Falcons took the field firing on all cylinders as the offense notched five unanswered goals in the first period. Chris Walsch was the playmaker of the period as he registered all three assists in the offensive. Cameron Carter was the first to score in an unassisted attack at the 13:47 mark. Gould scored his first two goals under 10 minutes remaining in the first period with a Walsch assist on his second goal. Hruby and Jack Flynn added a goal apiece, also by way of Walsch's assist.
Air Force continued the scoring clinic into the second period as they rattled off three goals in just 12 seconds. Walsch and Flynn connected for the second time in a man-up opportunity just 21 seconds into the period. A mere eight seconds later, face-off man Trent Harper won the ground ball and high-tailed it to the Panthers' cage where he punched in his first goal of the game. Four seconds after his goal, the face-off specialist from Birmingham, Alabama, assisted Hruby in his second goal of the game, extending the Falcons to an eight-to-nothing advantage with 14:27 remaining in the second period.
High Point's Mitchel Snyder stepped up to cease the Falcons' scoring spree as he put the Panthers on the board at the 13:38 mark with an unassisted attack on Mitch Rose in the Air Force goal. Gould responded with his third goal by way of Carter's assist. Snyder fired back, answering with his second goal of the game at the 5:46 mark. Hruby and Harper added two more goals before close of the half. Hruby's goal marked his sixth hat trick of the season. Close-defenseman Brandon Jones notched his second assist of the season in Harper's second goal. High Point added the final goal of the first half, entering the locker room trailing Air Force, 11-3.
The Panthers returned to the field as a new team, outscoring Air Force 5-1 in the third period, while capitalizing on two man-up opportunities in the rally. Air Force's only third-period goal came from a Walsch and Gould connection in a man-up opportunity with 1:36 remaining in the third period. The goal was Gould's fourth of the game, while the assist marked Walsch's fifth of the game. High Point netted a goal with one second remaining in the period, bringing the Falcons' lead down to four as they entered the fourth period with a 12-8 lead.
The final period of play was back-and-forth action, with the Panthers narrowing the Falcons' lead to as little as three goals. Flynn assisted Hruby with his fourth goal, followed by Andrew Tien's goal from Walsch's sixth assist of the day. Walsch's six assists marked a career-high performance. Gould notched his career-high fifth goal from Schwartz's assist at 3:52 remaining. In the final goal of the game, Tien returned the favor to Walsch with an assist for Walsch's first goal of the game at 2:42 remaining. Walsch concluded the game with a seven-point performance. The Falcons sealed the deal over High Point, 16-11, securing the top-seed in the SoCon's post season tournament.
Air Force held the final advantage in shots (32-31) and ground balls (33-18). Gould led the team with eight shots seven coming on frame. Face-off specialist Harper had a career highlight performance, notching a career-high two goals, picking up a career-high and team-high 14 ground balls, while winning a personal-best and team-high 21 face-offs. Harper went 21-28 (.750) at the face-off X; he won eight-of-nine second period face-off attempts.
The Falcons, Richmond Spiders and Furman Paladins all claimed a share of the 2017 SoCon regular season title after all three teams went 6-1 in SoCon play. Per the league's tiebreaking procedure, Air Force claimed the top seed, while Richmond and Furman garnered seeds two and three, respectively. With its win over Bellarmine and a High Point loss to Air Force on Saturday, the Dolphins claimed the fourth seed in the SoCon Championship bracket.
Top-seeded Air Force will take on Jacksonville, which is making it's first-ever appearance in the SoCon tournament, in game one of the SoCon postseason action - slated for Thursday at 5 p.m. The Falcons won the regular season matchup over the Dolphins in an overtime thriller, 10-9, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, on March 25.
Both semifinal winners will enjoy a day off before battling for the SoCon crown on Saturday at noon. The championship game broadcast on ESPN3, while the two semifinal contests on Thursday will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.
