Falcon Lacrosse Hosts High Point for Senior Day
4/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
AIR FORCE vs. HIGH POINT
Senior Day | Southern Conference
Sat., Apr. 21, 12 p.m. (MT)
Falcon Stadium, USAFA, CO
WATCH LIVE | LIVE TRACKING | Weekly Release 
THIS WEEKEND: Air Force will host the High Point Panthers (4-7, 4-1 SoCon) for Senior Day, Sat., Apr. 21, at noon (MT), at Falcon Stadium. Team captain Nick Hruby, along with senior teammates Nick Forrest, Josh Radjenovich and Andrew Tien will be honored at the event.
The seniors of 2018 were significant contributors to the program's record-breaking success, registering 40 wins since 2015. They played an integral role in the team's most successful season to date where the Falcons went 15-3 en route to a Southern Conference title and the 2016 NCAA tournament. The seniors of 2018 are back-to-back Southern Conference champions, bringing home titles in 2016 and 2017. They have made two trips to the NCAA tournament, including the program's first ever first-round NCAA tournament berth in 2016, which was repeated in 2017.
AIR FORCE AT A GLANCE: Hruby leads the Falcons with 24 goals and six assists for 30 points on the season. The first-team All-SoCon attacker leads the team in shots and shots on goal with 65 and 41, respectively. Hruby has three hat tricks on the season, including a conference and personal-best six-goal game against Marist. The Coppell, Texas, native's goal against Furman propelled him to the No. 2 spot in all-time career goals at the Academy (109), surpassing Chris Walsch (108), and trailing Academy career goals record holder Mike Crampton (127, 2011-14) by 18 goals. Hruby's 146 career points puts him at fourth-most in program history. He has started in every game (64-64) since joining the team in the 2014-15 season.
The breadth of the Air Force offense is also displayed by Matthew Schwartz who posted a career-best five-goal game against Bellarmine for his second hat trick of the season and Trey Lervick who notched his second hat trick last weekend at Jacksonville. Schwartz, Carter, Lervick, Jack Flynn, Roman Rohrbach, Matthew O'Rourk, and Andrew Tien, have all logged a hat trick this season. Lervick and Schwartz lead the squad with seven assists apiece.
At face off, Trent Harper holds a .547 faceoff win percentage (145-265), with a season-best performance over Furman where the Birmingham, Alabama, native recorded 13 wins in 15 attempts (.867). Harper has come victorious at the face off X in 10 games this season, highlighted by a 9-for-18 performance in face offs against three-time All-American and 2017 Tewaaraton Award finalist Trevor Baptiste, holding Baptiste in single-digit faceoff wins for the first time in his career. Harper leads the team with 65 ground balls.
Sophomore LSM Jeremiah Hemme leads the defense with 12 caused turnovers. The 6'5", 235-pound, junior also notched his first career goal with the long-stick against Boston University, Mar. 3. Hemme is joined by long-pole teammate Christian Pung, who is one-of-three players with all 13 starts this season. Pung has recorded 10 caused turnovers and 17 ground balls this season. Freshman goalkeeper Braden Host is starting to find his fit in the saddle, recording a career-high 13 saves in the Falcons' matchup against Detroit Mercy. Host has been in the Falcons' cage for all five wins this season. He holds a save percentage of .466 and allows 8.72 goals per game on average.
A QUICK LOOK AT HPU: The Panthers come to USAFA on a three-game winning streak and tied with Richmond for the lead of the conference with 3-1 records in league action. High Point posted an 11-9 win over common opponent Jacksonville, who topped Air Force, 13-12, earlier this season.
The Panthers are led by Asher Nolting who is currently the only Southern Conference player on the list and is the first freshman is program history to earn the distinction. The Greenwood Village, Colorado, product leads the SoCon in points and assists and is fourth in goals this season. Similarly, he is second among freshman nationally in points per game (4.70) and assists per game (2.50) and has already amassed the conference's eighth 20-20 season. Nolting has been ultra-consistent, tallying at least three points in all 10 appearances and is one of just four players nationally to score at least three points in 10 straight games this season.
Nolting is accompanied by Connor Robinson who leads the team with 29 goals. Teammates Chris Young and Koby Russell have tallied double-digit goals as well, combining for 28 goals this season.
Davis Sampere has had the majority of attempts at the face off X, winning 128 of 239 (.536) attempts. He leads the Panthers with 74 ground balls. Tim Troutner has the majority of minutes recorded in High Point's goal, allowing 12.31 goals per game on average and a .495 save percentage.
NEXT UP: The Falcons travel to Richmond, Virginia, for the regular-season finale against Richmond, Sat., Apr. 28, at noon (ET). The Falcons and Spiders are engaged in a top-spot rivalry as the Falcons have downed Richmond in the past two regular-season meetings and the past two Southern Conference championship games (2016, 2017). The rivalry started in the 2014 season where Air Force eliminated Richmond in the NCAA play-in game. Air Force is 5-0 against the SoCon heavyweight.
LAST WEEK: Eight Falcons netted 11 goals to down Southern Conference front-runner, Furman (3-8, 3-2 SoCon), 11-3, Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium. The Falcons held the Paladins to their lowest scoring game of the season. At the final whistle, Air Force held the advantage in shots (33-16) and ground balls (23-12). Hruby led the team with three points while Schwartz led the squad with seven shots, five coming on frame. Harper dominated the face off X, winning a season-high 13-15 (.867) face offs and picking up a team-high eight ground balls. Freshman goalkeeper Host recorded eight saves.
