Air Force Academy
UC Davis
Falcons fall to No. 10 UC Davis, 24-13
9/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - No. 10 UC Davis used a strong start to defeat No. 19 Air Force, 24-13, in a Western Water Polo Association game, Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Academy's Cadet Natatorium. UC Davis improved to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in the WWPA. Air Force fell to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in the league.
UCD's Ido Goldschmidt scored the first two goals of the game, but the Falcons quickly answered as Ryan Dorris scored at 5:01. The Aggies then scored the next three goals. Jack Empey and Justin Harrison each scored for the Falcons, but UCD had a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Air Force rallied in the second with three straight goals, two by Riley Thomas and one by Harrison to cut the Aggie lead to 8-6. UCD then scored four of the next five goals and held a 12-7 lead at the half.
The Aggies scored two quick goals in the third, but Thomas answered for the Falcons at 4:45. Three more Aggie goals gave the visiting team a 17-8 lead before Thomas scored again with 31 seconds left in the third. Thomas scored two early goals in the fourth to cut the Aggies lead to 17-11, but the Falcons could not get any closer. Thomas scored his seventh goal of the game with 2:46 left.
The seven goals are the second most of Thomas' career. He scored eight against Cal Baptist last season. Harrison added three goals for the Falcons. Luke Andres had three assists while Miller and Thomas each had two. UCD outshot Air Force, 38-26 in the game. The Aggies scored eight power play goals while Air Force had four. Freshman James Burke had eight saves and two steals for Air Force.
The Falcons are back on the road next week for a three non-conference games. Air Force faces service academy rival Navy and Pomona Pitzer on Oct. 7. The Falcons will then face Claremont-Mudd Scripps College on Oct. 8. All three games are in Claremont, Calif.
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