Air Force Edged by Utah at the Academy

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force lacrosse team wrapped up the Faceoff Classic this afternoon (Feb. 24) with a narrow 6-5 loss to NCAA newcomer Utah at the Academy. The Falcons, who surrendered a pair of goals in the final quarter of their first-ever Division I meeting with the Utes, fell to 2-2 on the season.

The Utes struck first, but Air Force evened the score less than two minutes later, as senior Trey Lervick found the back of the net off of an assist from classmate Brandon Jones. Those two goals were the only offense in the first 15 minutes, as the opening quarter ended in a one-all tie.

The Falcons' scoring picked up in the second frame, as the squad combined for three scores in a span of 75 seconds. Junior Jake Thornally registered his first goal of the season off of a pass from junior Matthew Schwartz to break the tie at the 10:08 mark, while sophomores Matthew O'Rourk and Christian Kuhn scored two goals in six seconds to push Air Force out to a 4-1 advantage. O'Rourk used an unassisted strike during a power play to record his fifth goal of the season, while senior Trent Harper fed the ball to Kuhn on the ensuing faceoff for the assist on Kuhn's third goal of the season. Utah pulled within one with a pair of unanswered goals and the teams entered halftime with Air Force holding a narrow 4-3 advantage.

That score stood throughout the third quarter, as none of the 14 combined shots found their mark. Utah broke the scoring drought early in the fourth quarter and evened the score at four, but Lervick recorded his second goal of the game – eighth of the season – to regain the Falcons' advantage. Utah, which evened the score at five and tallied the game-winner at the 5:47 mark, held off Air Force's attack in the final minutes for the 6-5 road win.

Sophomore Brenden Host recorded five saves on the day, as the Falcons spent much of the first three quarters on the opposite side of field, outshooting the Utes 33-13 during that stretch (41-19 overall). Harper was nine-of-13 from the faceoff and tied with Jones for the team lead in ground balls (six each).

Air Force travels to Buffalo, N.Y., next Saturday (March 2) for a meeting with Canisius, before hosting Detroit Mercy in a midweek game at the Academy on Wednesday, March 6.

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Team Stats

Trey Lervick

Matthew O'Rourk

Christian Kuhn

Jake Thornally

Players Mentioned

Trent Harper

Brandon Jones

Christian Kuhn

Trey Lervick

Matthew O'Rourk

Matthew Schwartz

Jake Thornally

Players Mentioned

Trent Harper

Brandon Jones

Christian Kuhn

Trey Lervick

Matthew O'Rourk

Matthew Schwartz

Jake Thornally

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