Falcons travel to Chapman, Nov. 10

THIS WEEK: Air Force (8-15, 3-4 WWPA) closes out the regular season with a non-conference game against Chapman University (10-17 overall), Saturday, Nov. 10, at 7 pm PT in Los Angeles, Calf. Links to the video stream and live stats for both games are on the Air Force water polo schedule page at www.GoAirForceFalcons.com.

SERIES RECORDS: Air Force and Chapman will meet for the 20th time in the history of the series that began in 1972. The Falcons have won all 20 meetings. The teams last met in 2016 when the Falcons defeated the Panthers, 18-7.

LAST WEEK: Air Force split a pair of road games last week. In the first game, No. 12 Cal Baptist scored six unanswered goals for a come-from-behind 10-7 win over Air Force in a WWPA game, Nov. 3, in Riverside, Calif. Edward Smet scored a pair of goals for the Falcons. The next day, a big fourth quarter led Air Force to an 11-8 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a non-conference game, Nov. 4, in Claremont, Calif. With the score tied at 6-6, the Falcons scored the next three goals of the game. Smet gave the Falcons a 7-6 lead at 6:49. Andres scored on the power play and Pittman scored even strength for a 9-6 advantage. After a Falcon turnover, the Stags scored, but Andres answered at 3:19. Stag Christian Thornton cut the Falcon lead to 10-8. After a save by James Burke with just over two minutes left, Pittman scored his third of the game for an 11-8 lead with 1:39 remaining.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Junior Luke Andres leads the Falcons with 51 goals and 75 points. His 51 goals are the fifth most in the league while his 75 points are sixth. His goals and points are the most since Riley Thomas had 69 goals and 104 points in 2016. Sophomore goalie James Burke is third in the league in steals (38) and saves (158). Junior Reagan Pittman leads the team with 35 assists and is second with 56 points. Pittman also leads the team with 11 field blocks while Andres is second with 10. Senior Edward Smet is third on the team with 47 points and leads all field players with 24 steals.

WWPA TOURNAMENT ON THE HORIZON: Air Force is the No. 5 seed in the WWPA Tournament, which begins Friday, Nov. 16, in Fresno, Calif. The Falcons will face fourth-seeded (and 12th-ranked), Cal Baptist, on Friday, at 11:15 am PT. If Air Force wins that game, the Falcons will play in the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 17, at either 12 pm or 1:45 pm PT. If Cal Baptist wins that game, the Falcons will play at either 8:30 am or 10:15 am on Saturday. The third-place game is at 11:15 am PT on Sunday while the championship game is at 1 pm PT.

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Players Mentioned

Luke Andres

James Burke

Reagan Pittman

Edward Smet

Riley Thomas

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