Air Force Academy
Denver
Falcon Lacrosse Takes on No. 8 Denver in Season Opener
2/7/2019 1:49:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Air Force lacrosse will travel to Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for a 1 p.m. face off in Denver
LET'S GET IT STARTED
Air Force's regular season kicks off against NCAA heavyweight and longtime rivals, No. 8 University of Denver, 1 p.m. MT, Saturday, Feb. 9, at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Denver returns eight starters and 37 letter winners coming off of a 2018 NCAA quarter-finals run and a Big East regular-season title. The game marks the first of two Air Force games to be played in Denver during the month of February.
THE SERIES
The Falcons and Pioneers will be meeting for the 28th time since Air Force joined Division I lacrosse in 1993. Denver leads the 27-game series, 21-6. The Pios have won the last 11 meetings dating back to 2009, and head coach Bill Tierney has never lost to Air Force while at the helm of Denver's lacrosse program. Air Force's last win against Denver was in 2009 when the Falcons bested the Pioneers, 10-7.
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's game will be broadcast on the Altitude 2 network and the DenverPioneers.com watch platform. A subscription is required for viewing through Denver's streaming service. Fans can tune in on the radio at ESPN 1600 Denver, or online at LacrosseTalkRadio.com. Live stats can be accessed on DenverPioneers.com in the Stat Broadcast link.
UP NEXT
Air Force opens the home slate against Marist, at noon MT, Saturday, Feb. 16, at Falcon Stadium, USAFA. The last time the teams met (2018), Air Force downed Marist, 8-7, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The Falcons lead the Red Foxes in the all-time series, 3-2.
AT THE HELM
Bill Wilson has agreed to become the head lacrosse coach at Air Force announced by Director of Athletics Col. Jen Block. Wilson, who served as the interim head coach in the 2018 season, has nine years of coaching experience at the Academy.
Wilson has played an integral role in program's success at the Academy, assisting in guiding the Falcons to their second-straight SoCon championship title and the team's fifth visit to the NCAA tournament in the 2017 season. Wilson has helped lead Air Force to three conference championships and three NCAA tournament visits in the last five seasons.
In 2016 Wilson assisted in guiding Air Force to its highest national ranking to date (No. 8) and the program's longest win streak (15 games) for the team's best finish in program history. Air Force capped the record-breaking season at 15-3 with a perfect mark in conference action, notching an overtime upset over perennial powerhouse, Duke, en route to the program's fourth NCAA tournament appearance.
Wilson also assisted in coaching all four of the program's Major Lacrosse League draftees. Erik Smith and Mike Crampton were drafted to the Boston Cannons and Colorado Mammoth, respectively, in the wake of the 2014 season. Following the 2016 campaign, Christopher Allen was drafted to the Charlotte Hounds, while Alex Warden was selected by the Denver Outlaws. Wilson is also a part of the staff that guided four Falcons (five times) to All-America honorable mention status.
LEADING FROM THE FRONT
Seniors Cameron Carter, Jack Flynn and Brandon Jones have assumed the co-captaincy for the 2019 season.
WELCOME BACK
The Falcons return eight starters and 37 letter winners from the 2018 season. The 13-man senior class of 2019 brings the experience of two Southern Conference regular-season titles, two SoCon tournament championship titles and three NCAA tournament appearances, including the team's first-ever NCAA tournament win (2016, vs. Richmond, W, 9-8 OT). The class of 2019 is 17-4 in all-time SoCon games. The 12-man junior class, who helped win conference regular season and tournament titles in the 2017 campaign, also experienced an upset win over No. 7 Duke in Koskinen Stadium. It was the second-straight year that the Falcons upended the Blue Devils in Durham.
In regards to players, Air Force returns three of their top-five scorers in Matthew Schwartz, Trey Lervick and Cameron Carter. Schwartz, who led all returners in scoring in the 2018 campaign, recorded 16 goals and eight assists. Lervick was on Schwartz's tail with 14 goals and seven assists as the Falcons' third-leading points scorer. Lervick also turned the ball over the least of all top-five scorers. Cameron Carter concluded the season with 11 goals and four assists despite missing a third of the games.
Key defenders returning are Brandon Jones and Vince Lombardi, both of which earned SoCon post-season awards in their time at Air Force. Jones leads the team in all-time caused turnovers (28 in two seasons), while Lombardi, who was selected to the SoCon's All-Freshman team in 2018, recorded 11 caused turnovers. Also returning to the defense are long-pole defenders Jeremiah Hemme and Christian Pung, who led the squad with 12 and 10 caused turnovers, respectively.
At the face off X, Air Force return's Trent Harper, who was announced as the top selection in the SoCon's all-preseason team. Harper finished last season with a .530 face off win percentage and most notably held 2018 Tewaaraton Award finalist, Trevor Baptiste (Denver), to his lowest face off win-percentage of the season (.500). Baptiste, who dominated at X in 15-17 games, only won as low as .500 face offs on two occasions during the 2018 campaign-- against Harper and against Albany's TD Ierlan in the NCAA quarter-finals.
REPORTING FOR DUTY
The Falcons added 15 newcomers to the squad in 2019. In two preseason scrimmages, three freshman contributed goals and assists in action against No. 6 Virginia and No. 10 Notre Dame.
On staff, Air Force has brought on John Grant, Jr. as an assistant coach in 2019. Coach Jr. has achieved unparalleled success in lacrosse, having been a dominant force in professional lacrosse for nearly 20 years. The 1999 Lt. Raymond Enners Award winner's passion for the game of lacrosse was handed down from his Hall of Fame father: John Grant, Sr. a professional with a World Championship of his own. Coach Jr., who is arguably one of the greatest box lacrosse players of all time, was instrumental in assisting Coach Randy Mearns and Team Canada to a gold medal in the 2014 World Games and also helped lead the Denver Outlaws to a 2018 MLL Championship. Prior to leaving the playing field, Grant, Jr. was the only player to win MLL and NLL MVPs in same season, one-of-three players to win MLL and NLL MVPs altogether and a six-time MLL champion.
A LOOK AT WHAT'S TO COME
The Falcons will play Cleveland State in Denver's Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium for the first game of the Denver Faceoff Classic, Feb. 23, then return to USAFA to host Utah, Feb. 24, in the second game of the Face Off Classic. The 2019 season marks Utah's inaugural year in NCAA lacrosse.
Air Force opens the home slate against Marist on Feb. 16. It is the first of five home games to be played at Falcon Stadium. Detroit Mercy comes to the Academy, Mar. 6, followed by Southern Conference foes, Jacksonville (Mar. 30), Richmond (Apr. 13), and Bellarmine (Apr. 27).
The Falcons schedule is highlighted by a game against the 2018 National Champions, Yale, on Tuesday, Mar. 26, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Following the game against Yale, Air Force will finish off the schedule in conference action, playing for a spot in the Southern Conference tournament to be hosted by High Point, May 2-4, in High Point, North Carolina.
A tournament championship would yield the Falcons' automatic berth into the NCAA National Tournament, which commences the weekend of May 11-12. Championship rounds will be played at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
PRESEASON
Jan. 19- The Falcons got their first taste of action in a scrimmage against the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers, who are ranked sixth in the nation in the USILA Coaches' Poll, led the Falcons, 8-7, after three quarters of play before both teams decided to get the younger bench-players into the scrimmage. Three Falcon freshmen contributed to three goals in the scrimmage.
Jan. 26- Air Force continued its annual tradition of scrimmaging Notre Dame in January. The Falcons led the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish, 4-2, at the half and closed the fourth quarter with a 9-8 lead as the teams prepared for a fifth quarter. Junior attacker Matthew Schwartz was reported to have four goals in the scrimmage.
SoCon- Cameron Carter, Brandon Jones and Trent Harper were selected to the preseason All-Southern Conference team in a vote of the eight league head coaches. The Falcons were picked to finish third in the upcoming season.
Defending Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Richmond has been picked to win the league. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams or student-athletes. The team included one extra defender due to a tie in the voting. Seven of the eight league teams were represented on the preseason All-SoCon team.
Air Force's Cameron Carter, Furman's William Holcomb and Richmond's Mitch Savoca earned preseason honors at midfield. Holcomb was a first-team all-conference pick last season, finishing seventh in the league in scoring with 2.77 points per game, collecting 26 goals and 10 assists for 36 total points. Carter and Savoca earned second-team honors last season, with Savoca leading the league with three game-winning goals.
The preseason defensive unit includes Brandon Jones of Air Force, Dixon Smith of Jacksonville, Jason Reynolds of Richmond and Kyle Walsh of VMI. Walsh, a preseason selection for the second straight year, was second in the SoCon with 87 total ground balls and 6.69 per game last year, while Jones, the 2016 SoCon Freshman of the Year and a preseason selection for the second straight year, did not compete in 2018 but led the SoCon with 86 total ground balls and finished third with 4.78 per game in 2017. Reynolds and Walsh were first-team all-conference selections last season, while Smith was a second-team pick.
Air Force senior Trent Harper was the preseason selection at faceoff specialist for the second straight season. Harper, a first-team all-conference selection in 2017, went 152-135 (.530) from the X last season. He finished fourth in the league in ground balls with 68 total and 4.53 per game.
The 2019 Southern Conference men's lacrosse season gets under way Saturday, Feb. 2, with five teams in action. This season's SoCon Championship will be held at High Point's Vert Stadium in High Point, North Carolina, on May 2 and 4.
BOOK SMARTS
Air Force returns three-of-five Academic All-SoCon selections in Cameron Carter, Roman Rohrbach and Doc Szlachetka, and 13-of-23 SoCon Honor Roll award winners.
LAST SEASON AT A GLANCE
Due to off-field misconduct, the 2018 Falcons were left to compete at less than half-power with the absence of a head coach, all of the senior class and half of the junior class, who were all deemed ineligible prior to the beginning of the season. The loss was a key factor in Air Force's first losing season in six years. Air Force finished with a 5-10 overall record and a 3-4 mark in league action, landing just one position short of a SoCon tournament invite.
