Saturday, September 1
La Jolla, CA
8:20 am
Air Force Academy
vs
Cal
Falcons open season Sept. 1 at Triton Tournament
8/30/2018 9:38:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Air Force faces No. 3 Cal in first game
THIS WEEK: Air Force ranked 20th in the nation in the preseason poll, opens the 2018 season at the annual Triton Tournament in La Jolla, Calif. The Falcons open the season against No. 3 Cal on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 8:20 am PT. Later that day, Air Force will face Concordia at 4:20 pm PT. The Falcons will play two games on Sunday, Sept. 2, but the opponent and times will be based on the day one results.
SERIES RECORDS: Air Force and California will meet for the 28th time and the Falcons are looking for their first win ever over the Bears. Last season, Cal defeated Air Force, 24-7, to run their series advantage over the Falcons to 27-0. Air Force and Concordia will meet for the 12th time and the Eagles hold a 6-5 series lead. Concordia won two of the three meetings last season. The Falcons won the last meeting, a 15-10 win in the WWPA Tournament.
A LOOK BACK: Air Force posted a 9-14 overall record last season. The Falcons finished strong, winning four or the last five. Air Force was the fifth seed in the WWPA Tournament and placed third in the conference tournament for the second time in the last three years. After an opening round win over Concordia, the Falcons fell to eventual champion, UC Davis. The Falcons closed out the tournament with a 12-10 win over Cal Baptist in the third-place game. Since winning the tournament in 2012, Air Force has posted a 2-1 record at the championships each of the last five years.
STAT LEADERS: Senior Justin Harrison is the team's top returning scorer. Last season, he was second on the team with 28 goals and 33 points and earned honorable mention all-conference honors. Mike Miller had 21 goals last season while Luke Andres had 18. Freshman goalie James Burke was sixth in the league with 144 saves and was named to the all-freshman team.
THE HEAD COACH: Ryan Brown is in his first season as the Falcons' head coach. Brown replaces Jeff Heidmous, who retired after coaching the Falcons for 25 seasons. Brown spent seven seasons with the Air Force water polo team, serving the last four as the associate head coach. He came to the Academy in 2011. Prior to his arrival at the Academy, Brown spent six years as an assistant for the USA Men's Senior National Water Polo Team, working with the program from 2006 until 2011. In 2008, Brown helped guide the U.S. team to a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, its best showing in 20 years. Brown also spent six seasons as the head women's water polo coach at the University of the Pacific prior to working with the men's national team. In 2005, he led the Tigers to their highest win total in program history.
THE HOME SCHEDULE: Air Force will host four home games this season, all in the Cadet Natatorium and admission is free to all games. The home schedule opens on Sept. 15 when the Falcons host conference foe Concordia at noon MT. Air Force will then host UC San Diego, Sept. 28, Santa Clara on Oct. 6 and Fresno Pacific on Oct. 27.
PRESEASON POLL: In the WWPA preseason coaches poll, Air Force was picked to finish fifth. UC Davis collected seven of the eight first-place votes and was picked first, followed by UC San Diego, Cal Baptist , Loyola Marymount, Air Force, Santa Clara, Concordia and Fresno Pacific.
SERIES RECORDS: Air Force and California will meet for the 28th time and the Falcons are looking for their first win ever over the Bears. Last season, Cal defeated Air Force, 24-7, to run their series advantage over the Falcons to 27-0. Air Force and Concordia will meet for the 12th time and the Eagles hold a 6-5 series lead. Concordia won two of the three meetings last season. The Falcons won the last meeting, a 15-10 win in the WWPA Tournament.
A LOOK BACK: Air Force posted a 9-14 overall record last season. The Falcons finished strong, winning four or the last five. Air Force was the fifth seed in the WWPA Tournament and placed third in the conference tournament for the second time in the last three years. After an opening round win over Concordia, the Falcons fell to eventual champion, UC Davis. The Falcons closed out the tournament with a 12-10 win over Cal Baptist in the third-place game. Since winning the tournament in 2012, Air Force has posted a 2-1 record at the championships each of the last five years.
STAT LEADERS: Senior Justin Harrison is the team's top returning scorer. Last season, he was second on the team with 28 goals and 33 points and earned honorable mention all-conference honors. Mike Miller had 21 goals last season while Luke Andres had 18. Freshman goalie James Burke was sixth in the league with 144 saves and was named to the all-freshman team.
THE HEAD COACH: Ryan Brown is in his first season as the Falcons' head coach. Brown replaces Jeff Heidmous, who retired after coaching the Falcons for 25 seasons. Brown spent seven seasons with the Air Force water polo team, serving the last four as the associate head coach. He came to the Academy in 2011. Prior to his arrival at the Academy, Brown spent six years as an assistant for the USA Men's Senior National Water Polo Team, working with the program from 2006 until 2011. In 2008, Brown helped guide the U.S. team to a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, its best showing in 20 years. Brown also spent six seasons as the head women's water polo coach at the University of the Pacific prior to working with the men's national team. In 2005, he led the Tigers to their highest win total in program history.
THE HOME SCHEDULE: Air Force will host four home games this season, all in the Cadet Natatorium and admission is free to all games. The home schedule opens on Sept. 15 when the Falcons host conference foe Concordia at noon MT. Air Force will then host UC San Diego, Sept. 28, Santa Clara on Oct. 6 and Fresno Pacific on Oct. 27.
PRESEASON POLL: In the WWPA preseason coaches poll, Air Force was picked to finish fifth. UC Davis collected seven of the eight first-place votes and was picked first, followed by UC San Diego, Cal Baptist , Loyola Marymount, Air Force, Santa Clara, Concordia and Fresno Pacific.
Players Mentioned
AT
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
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