Falcon Lacrosse Travels to Furman for Conference Game
4/6/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Full Notes in PDF 
AIR FORCE at FURMAN
Saturday, April 8, 12:00 p.m. ET
Paladin Stadium, Greenville, SC
WATCH LIVE on ESPN3 | LIVE STATS
THIS WEEK: Air Force returns to the road to take on Furman in a Southern Conference match-up, Saturday, April 8, at noon ET, in Greenville, SC. The Falcons and Paladins are both undefeated in conference (3-0) and will be meeting for the fourth time in program history; Air Force is unbeaten in the three-game series. Last season, Air Force topped Furman, 14-4, at Falcon Stadium.
TUNE IN: The Furman game will be broadcast live on the ESPN3 platform with Price Atkinson calling the play-by-play. Live stats will also be available for the game. Fans can access the stream and live stats by going to GoAirForceFalcons.com and clicking the watch live and live tracking links in the schedule dropdown. A cable subscription is required for viewing the ESPN3 stream.
LAST WEEKEND: Air Force posted a 20-2 win over Bellarmine in conference action, April 1, in the Holaday Athletic Center, USAFA, CO. The Falcons posted their largest modern-era margin of victory since beating Sienna, 25-2, in 1995, while delivering Bellarmine's most lopsided loss in program history. Chris Walsch led the Falcons with a season-high eight points from five goals and three assists. Nick Hruby netted his second-consecutive hat trick and fifth of the season.
FURMAN AT A GLANCE: Furman will take the field under the guidance of 37-year coaching veteran Richie Meade. Meade is entering his fourth season as the head coach of the Paladins; he is the school's first men's head lacrosse coach. In his first three seasons as the head coach at Furman, Meade has guided the Paladins to a 7-32 record and berth in the 2015 Southern Conference championship. In 2015, the program's second year, Meade raised the Paladins win total from one in 2014 to four, including a 3-3 SoCon record.
The Paladins are led by David Williamson with 19 goals and two assists for a team-high 21 points; he leads the conference with a .422 shooting percentage. Furman has displayed their ability to spread the field and create opportunities as five players have at least 10 goals and 20 points apiece this season. William Holcomb, who leads the team with nine assists, has netted 14 goals, while Lou Yovino has tallied 17 goals for the second-most on the team so far this season. The Paladins have outscored their opponents, 103-92, with the largest win of the season coming against Bellarmine, 19-6. Furman has the best turnover rating in the conference, averaging only 11.80 turnovers per game; a mark high enough for 11th best in the country.
At X, Hil Blaze has taken the majority of face-offs, going 110-204 for a .539 winning percentage this season. He leads the team with 38 ground balls. The Paladins have notched 66 caused turnovers, led by Joe Stone with 12 to his credit and Brandon Bank with 10.
A QUICK LOOK AT AIR FORCE: The Falcons lead the SoCon in scoring offense (11.00), clearing percentage (0.903), shots per game (39.27) and shots on goal per game (21.64). Air Force has the second-best winning percentage (0.636), man-up offense (0.364), scoring margin (3.18), scoring defense (7.82), and points per game (17.00) in the conference. The Falcon scoring-defense is ranked ninth in the nation. Air Force has outscored all opponents this season, 121-86, while taking 432 shots to all opponents' 271.
Air Force's top-three scorers, Walsch, Hruby and Grant Gould, combine for 70 goals and 26 assists this season. Walsch leads the conference in goals per game (2.55), while Hruby is second in conference (2.45) in the same category. Walsch, a native of Finksburg, Maryland, has started in all 44 career games; registering at least a goal in 40-of-44 games played. The three-year starting attacker notched his 100th goal in a season-high five-goal performance against Bellarmine. In the same game, he tied Teddy Hatfield of Richmond for the conference's most individual points in a single-game (8). He leads the team in goals (28), assists (13) and points (41) this season. He also leads the team in career G-A-P (100-60-160), career hat tricks (18), career game-winners (7) and is third on the team in career ground balls (63). The Tewaaraton watch list player has led Air Force in goals and points every year since joining in the 2014-15 season.
Hruby's six-point showing against Detroit Mercy, Mar. 11, marked a personal season-best performance. He is second on the team in goals (27), assists (9) and points (36). Hruby is also third in the conference with five individual man-up goals and is second in the conference with a 0.391 shooting-percentage. He has had a hat trick in five games this season with the two most recent coming in Air Force's previous two games.
At face-off, sophomore midfielder Trent Harper has taken the reins with a .583 win-percentage. Harper was credited as the conference Defense Player of the Week, Feb. 28, for his part in a landslide win over Cleveland State where he registered a .762 face-off win-percentage on the game. Harper played a major role in Air Force climbing out of a four-point first-half deficit against Jacksonville by going 9-11 (.820) in second-half face-offs. He further facilitated the come-from-behind win by assisting Walsch with the equalizing goal at 15 seconds remaining in the third period; closing the period on a 4-0 goal-streak. His defensive effort led to four ground balls and caused a turnover; helping the Falcons to remain perfect in conference action. He has the second- highest face-off winning percentage in the conference.
Air Force's defense combines for 72 caused turnovers; Brandon Jones leads the pack with 13 to his credit. Nicholas Accardi and Joe Matarazzo account for 19 caused turnovers; 11 and eight, respectively. In the last two games, Air Force has held Marquette, who just broke into the nation's top-20, and Bellarmine to only eight goals. The Falcon defense played a major role in delivering Bellarmine's most lopsided loss in program history.
Senior midfielder-turned-goalkeeper, Mitch Rose, is now 2-1 while defending the Falcons' cage. Rose first saw action against Jacksonville, Mar. 25, where he helped fend off an upset loss to the Dolphins in overtime. Most recently, Rose was a key figure in holding the previous two opponents to only eight combined goals. He notched four saves against Bellarmine, who had the lowest scoring game of their season. The Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, native holds a 5.03 goals-against average and a .552 save-percentage.
GONE STREAKING: Air Force is on a 12-game win-streak in conference action since joining the league last season. The Falcons went 7-0 in their 2016 regular-season conference slate and added two more wins en route to the 2016 conference championship. This season, the Falcons have bested Mercer, Jacksonville and Bellarmine to extend to 12-straight wins in SoCon play. Air Force is also on a three-game win-streak when playing against Furman.
Walsch extended his active point-streak to 35-games following the win over Bellarmine on April 1. The streak started in March of 2015 (freshman year) and is the 12th longest running point-streak in the nation. Walsh has registered 79 goals and 52 assists for 131 points since the streak began. In conference play this season, Walsch is on a three-game hat trick-streak.
Hruby's last game extended his goal-streak to 24-games dating back to March of last season. The goal-streak is the third longest running streak in the nation led by 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner, Dylan Molloy, of Brown. Hruby has notched 51 goals in the active streak. The Coppell, Texas, native also broke into the national point-streak rankings where he is tied at 19th with at least a point in 25-straight games.
JONES EARNS WEEKLY SOCON HONOR: Sophomore close-defenseman Brandon Jones guided the Air Force defense in two games against Marquette, which received recognition in last weekend's Inside Lacrosse Poll, and conference foe Bellarmine. On the week, Jones recorded 12 ground balls and three caused turnovers and anchored a Falcon defense that surrendered just eight combined goals in two games. In the Falcons' 20-2 win over Bellarmine, the reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year held the Knights' leading scorer, Tucker Cieseau (1.89 gpg, 1.11 apg), to one shot and zero points in the annual conference meeting. Jones also grabbed a game-high seven ground balls, one shy of his career high, and was a leading figure in the Falcons' defensive effort to hold Bellarmine to its lowest-scoring game of the season and largest margin of defeat in program history.
UP NEXT: Air Force travels to Lexington, Va., to compete in the road-slate finale against VMI, Sat., Apr. 15, at noon ET. The Falcons and Keydets will be meeting for the 14th time in program history; Air Force leads the 13-game series, 12-1. When playing in Virginia, Air Force is 4-1.
