Air Force Upends No. 9 Denver in NCAA Tournament Thriller

Denver, Colo. - Air Force knocked off the ninth-ranked University of Denver, 2-1, in the second round of the NCAA national tournament, Sunday afternoon, in Denver, Colorado. The Falcons continue to press the single-season wins bar higher as they improve to 17-4 heading into the round of 16. The last time Air Force made it to the third round of the national tournament was in 1993, where Air Force played South Carolina in the round of eight.

Air Force got off to the faster start, winning the possessions and pressing the attack early on in front of a well-travelled Air Force crowd in University of Denver Soccer Stadium.

A defensive miscue between the Pioneers' keeper and defender yielded a wide open goal to Klint Parker in full stride, punching the ball in from a yard out for the opening goal in the 13^th minute. The goal marked Parker's eighth of the season.

In the 29^th minute, a Denver defenseman fouled a Falcon in the box yielding Air Force a penalty kick opportunity. Team captain and Colorado Springs native Austin Dewing took the line and finished with a rocket into the right center for his 12^th goal of the season.

"I wanted that shot," said Dewing. "I know any one of our guys could have took the shot and got it done, but I knew inside, that if I got the chance to take it, it's going in."

At the half, Air Force proved to be the aggressor with six shots, three on frame to Denver's four with no balls on goal.

Just over a minute into the second half Denver battled back into the match with their first goal by way of a free kick just off the corner of the box. Moshe Perez put the ball in top-shelf just out of Air Force keeper Andrea Seazzu's reach.

The remainder of second half turned into a Wild West shootout as both teams relentlessly fired shots on frame, but it was Air Force's defense that came out on top as they held the high-powered Pioneer offense off for the remainder of the match.

Klint Parker led the Falcons' offense with three shots and a goal. Seazzu, who has the program-record for single-season wins (17), recorded three saves on the match while disrupting the Pioneers' offense on several occasions.

"It was a hard fought match and our guys persisted and worked hard to come out on top," said head coach Doug Hill. "The theme for this post-season has been, offense wins games and defense wins championships-- our defense left it all on the field tonight and it takes us one step closer to that championship."

"Our offense gets a lot of praise, and they deserve it, but our defense made the difference today," said Hill. "One of our unsung heroes, James Sims, was the linchpin defender on our line. James, along with David Louthan, Joe Ortiz and Nick Blessing left it all on the pitch for 90 minutes and we're going to Indiana because of it."

"I'm happy for our seniors," continued Hill. "Watching this team grow and become a force in the college soccer has been a great privilege and opportunity and I'm proud of everything they have accomplished, but we still have more work to do."

Air Force travels to Bloomington, Indiana, to take on the top-ranked, second-seeded, Indiana Hoosiers, Sunday, Nov. 25, at 1 p.m. ET. Air Force is 3-0 against top-25 teams this season. Indiana (18-2-1) will take their home pitch coming off a 4-0 win over Connecticut, Sunday afternoon. The meeting will mark the all-time second match between the programs.

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