Falcons advance to semifinals of WWPA Championships

FRESNO, Calif. – Sophomore goalie James Burke made 11 saves and Reagan Pittman scored the game-winner as fifth-seeded Air Force upset fourth-seeded, and 11^th-ranked, Cal Baptist, 6-5, in the first round of the Western Water Polo Association Championships, Friday, Nov. 16, in Fresno, Calif. With the win, Air Force improves to 9-16 overall and advances to the WWPA semifinals. Cal Baptist fell to 22-11 overall this season.

Air Force has won three of its last five games and avenged a 10-7 loss to Cal Baptist two weeks ago in the regular season.

Air Force senior Justin Harrison opened the scoring from Luke Andres, but the Lancers tied the game with two seconds left in the first quarter. Jason Hires gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead, but CBU scored a pair for a 3-2 lead. Falcon freshman Gavin Jones tied the game at 3-3 with 30 seconds left in the second quarter.

Back-to-back goals by Harrison and Edward Smet gave the Falcons a 5-3 lead early in the third quarter. After a Lancer goal, Pittman scored on the power-play, from Andres with 47 seconds left in the third.

Behind the goaltending of Burke, the Falcons kept the Lancers off the board until late in the fourth. CBU's Zach Lowery scored to cut the Falcon lead to 6-5 with 2:10 left. CBU had a possession late in the game, but the Falcons forced a turnover with 22 seconds left to preserve the victory.

The Falcons advance to the semifinals for the second straight season and will face top-seeded, and 10^th-ranked UC San Diego on Saturday, Nov. 17, at noon PT. The winner of that game advances to the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m. PT. The loser of the semifinal game will play in the third-place game on Sunday at 11:15 am PT.

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