Air Force Concludes 2019 Season with Heartbreaking PK Loss

USAF Academy, Colo. - Air Force fell to Utah Valley in a penalty kick shootout, 6-5, after playing the Wolverines to a scoreless draw in the Western Athletic Conference semifinals, Friday evening at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons finalized the 2019 campaign at 8-10-1 and a third place finish in the league.

The Falcons took 14 shots in 90-minutes of regulation action and added another seven in two overtime periods, totaling 21 shots on the game. Utah Valley was the aggressor in the second half taking 13 shots to the Falcons' seven in the second-45. Sophomore midfielder Lathan Spadafora led the match with six shots to his credit while sophomore teammate JT D'Emidio took four. Freshmen Quinn Matulis and Luke Hill recorded three shots apiece.

Sophomore keeper Kainoa Likewise was a brick wall in the Falcons' cage, registering eight saves against nine shots on goal in 110 minutes of action. Likewise's athleticism deterred Utah Valley shot leaders, Zach Mass and Zahir Vazquez, on four occasions.

The Air Force defense, with two starters down, put their tenacity on display, holding the high-powered Wolverine offense scoreless for the duration of the match. Reece Cooke, Tyler Johnson, Nick Blessing and London Aghedo held down the fort, clocking 110 minutes of action apiece.

After four scoreless periods, the Falcons entered penalty kicks for the first time this season. Matulis was first up and first to strike, beating Mitch Jensen to the right. Utah Valley's Luis Garza matched to bring the count to 1-1.

Giuliano Daniel was next up for the Falcons, getting Jensen to jump the wrong direction and finishing with plenty of clearance. The Falcons' got a boost of energy as Likewise stopped Jaiden Waggoner's attempt to give Air Force a 2-1 advantage.

Jensen got his first stop against sophomore Dylan Stanley, giving the Wolverines a breath of fresh air. Aaron Caprio connected on a strike to bring the count back to square at 2-2.

Luke Hill took the spotlight in the next attempt, sending a laser beam low left that Jensen simply could not catch. Caleb Wight matched in the next shot, 3-3.

Lathan Spadafora took the following shot, finishing nice and easy against a weary Wolverine goalkeeper to bring the count in favor of Air Force, 4-3. Alec Felix matched to equalize at four.

Senior team captain Nick Blessing took the next shot, tricking Jensen off the ball and finishing with a beauty to the left side, lifting the Falcons to a 5-4 advantage. Ahmed Longmire connected on his attempt to knot at five.

Ryan Clary took the next shot which Jensen was fortunate to stop, stalling the Falcons' at five PKs made. Zahir Vazquez took what became the final shot, shooting into the reach of Likewise who got his fingertips on the ball but couldn't force the deflection out of the cage. Likewise retired from the pitch with eight wins, numerous game-savers and his first career shutout.

"It's always a hard way to end the game on penalty kicks," head coach Doug Hill said. "Sometimes you can just flip a coin to determine that, but concentrating on the game, I thought this young team did extremely well. We were tremendous with our backs, didn't give up a lot of opportunities and had several chances to score, but sometimes they don't fall in your favor. The future of this young team is bright, we're going to continue to get better and I'm excited to see where this team can go. I couldn't be more proud of the effort everyone gave tonight."

"It was special to see Nick Blessing score our final goal with a nice PK to the side," Hill continued. "Nick has been instrumental to our team as long as he's been at the Academy and he was a great team captain. I feel for our other senior Julian Flores who wanted so badly to be on the field with his team, but sometimes things are out of your control. Nick and Julian both have bright futures ahead of them when they graduate in May."

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