Air Force and Richmond Face Off Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

THIS WEEK
Air Force takes on Richmond at 11:30 a.m. MT, Saturday, April 13 at Falcon Stadium. Richmond, the 2018 SoCon champions, sit atop the league and are currently the only undefeated team in league play, holding a 7-4 overall with a 5-0 mark in the SoCon. The Falcons and Spiders are two of the top-three teams in the conference.

THE SERIES WITH RICHMOND
-The series began in 2014
-Air Force leads Richmond in the all-time series, 5-1
-The Falcons won the first five-straight meetings, including the first-ever meeting in the NCAA play-in game in 2014, 13-5. The win marked the Falcons first-ever NCAA tournament win
-Air Force is 1-0 against Richmond at USAFA
-The Falcons beat the Spiders in two-straight SoCon Championships (2016, 2017)
-The Spiders won the last year's regular-season meeting in Richmond, Virginia, 12-6
-With the exception of the first (2014) and last game (2018), Air Force notched exactly nine goals to beat Richmond

THE SPIDERS AT A GLANCE
Richmond has won four of their last five games, only losing at No. 7 Virginia two weeks ago (Mar. 29). Three of Richmond's four losses came from top-10 opponents. The Spiders knocked off No. 6 Notre Dame on Feb. 23, and have outscored all opponents, 133-109.

Ryan Lanchbury leads the Spiders in goals with 36, while Teddy Hatfield leads the team in points with 49 from 25 goals and 24 assists. Five Spiders have recorded double-figure goals marks. Richmond appears to struggle at the face off X as the Spiders have a .411 face off win-percentage this season. Jack Rusbuldt has the majority of minutes logged in the cage, he has a 9.08 GAA and a .566 save-percentage.

LAST TIME THEY PLAYED
Air Force was outscored, 12-6, in the regular-season finale against Richmond, April 28, at Robins Stadium in Richmond, Va. The Falcons finalized their 2018 campaign with a 5-10 overall record and a 3-4 mark in league action. The victory also marked the first of for all-time Richmond against Air Force, eliminating the Falcons from contention for the SoCon Tournament as only the top four teams earn a spot.

The Falcons and Spiders played a scoreless first period, but Richmond was eventually the first to find an offensive rhythm, outscoring Air Force 6-1 in the second period. Trent Harper was the lone Falcon to punch in a goal off the face off.

Both teams notched two goals apiece in the third period, reducing the Falcons' deficit to 8-3 going into the fourth period.

Air Force went on to net three goals in the fourth period but was outscored by the Spiders who netted four goals by the end of regulation.

Air Force's fate fell Furman and Bellarmine who were engaged in a heated exchange in Louisville, Kentucky. Bellarmine, who Air Force needed to win for a SoCon tournament berth, notched the equalizing goal, 7-7, with 34-seconds remaining in regulation. Furman, determined to control its destiny, scored the game-winner with three seconds remaining, lifting the Paladins to an 8-7 win and extinguishing Air Force's post-season hopes.

A LOOK AHEAD
Air Force travels to Lexington, Virginia, to take on VMI in the road-slate finale at 12 p.m. ET, March 20, at Alumni Memorial Field. The Falcons are 14-1 against the Keydets since the series began in 1992. Air Force's only loss to VMI occurred in Lexington in 2014, the same year the Falcons won their first NCAA tournament game.

LAST TIME OUT
Air Force gave up its first loss in Southern Conference action as the High Point Panthers outscored the Falcons, 13-9, Saturday afternoon (Apr. 6) at Vert Stadium. Air Force, who is still in the SoCon's top-three mix, dropped to 7-4 overall with a 3-1 mark in league play. High Point improved to 9-2 with a 3-1 mark in the league.

The Falcons put up nearly twice as many shots as the Panthers (45-24), but were hard-pressed to get one by mid-season All-American goalkeeper Tim Troutner who recorded 11 saves on the game. Jack Flynn led the Falcons with three goals while teammate Tim Baker led Air Force with eight shots. Baker also scored two goals and added an assist.

Senior face off specialist Trent Harper had success at the midfield, winning 14-of-25 (.560) attempts while collecting a team-high five ground balls. Freshman defender Quentin Carlile tallied a game-high five caused turnovers while picking up two ground balls. Jones, the Falcons' defensive linchpin, recorded three caused turnovers and scooped up four ground balls.

Sophomore goalkeeper Braden Host tallied five saves in 60-minutes spent in the Air Force cage. He is 7-4 on the season.

NEWS AROUND THE LEAGUE
• Richmond visits Air Force on Saturday in a battle of top-two teams in the Southern Conference standings, while the six other league teams also square off in SoCon play.

• VMI visits No. 4 Virginia on Tuesday, April 16, in the final nonconference game on the slate for SoCon teams this regular season.

• High Point moved up one spot to No. 14 in the USILA poll this week and sits 13th in both the Inside Lacrosse and Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine polls. Richmond is receiving votes in all three polls.

• Furman picked up its first league win on April 6, getting a school-record 21 saves from goalkeeper Alec Van de Bovenkamp in a 15-14 victory over Mercer.

• Mercer freshman Ashton Wood had a record-setting day in the loss, picking up 19 ground balls and winning 29 faceoffs, both conference single-game records.

• High Point's Asher Nolting had six assists and nine points, both program records and both tied for second in a game in league history, in the Panthers' 13-9 win over Air Force on April 6.

• Richmond's Ryan Lanchbury matched the program single-game record with six goals in the Spiders' 14-8 win at Jacksonville on April 6, also pushing his season total to a program-record 36 goals and giving him a SoCon-record nine hat tricks this year.

• Bellarmine, which opened the season 0-8, has now won two straight, topping Mercer and VMI on consecutive weekends to jump into a tie for fourth in the league standings at 2-2 in SoCon play.

• Jacksonville is also 2-2 but has already played the top four teams in the league standings in Bellarmine (W), High Point (W), Air Force (L) and Richmond (L). Its remaining opponents are a combined 2-10 in SoCon play.

• High Point's Chris Young and Richmond's Ryan Lanchbury share the league lead with 36 goals this season and are both on pace to surpass the existing SoCon single-season record of 43 goals by HPU's Dan Lomas in 2015.

• Inside Lacrosse released its list of midseason All-Americans on April 5, with three SoCon players earning mention. High Point's Asher Nolting was a second-team pick, while teammate Tim Troutner Jr. was a third-team selection. Jacksonville's Jack Dolan earned honorable mention from the publication.

• Already the only player in league history to record a 30-goal, 30-assist season, High Point's Nolting is well on his way to repeating the feat, as he has 28 goals and 36 assists this year with at least three more games to play. At his current record pace of 5.82 points per game, he's also on pace to destroy his own SoCon single-season record of 66 points. The 64 he currently has are tied for second in a season in SoCon history. Nolting, who also had 36 assists last year, is the only player in league history with two 30-assist seasons.

• High Point's Troutner needs just one more win in the net to match the career record set by former Richmond goalkeeper Benny Pugh, who had 28 from 2015-17.

• Jacksonville leads NCAA Division I with 11.91 caused turnovers per game, with VMI right behind in second with 11.78. The Keydets' Kyle Walsh is first nationally with 3.44 per game and with 117 in his career, needs just two to pass Richmond's Brendan Hynes (2015-17) for the SoCon record.

• Bellarmine goalkeeper Jordan Dondoyano is averaging 14.11 saves per game this season, which ranks fifth in Division I and would easily be a SoCon record. The current mark is 13.69 by Jacksonville's Ben Gleichenhaus in 2016.

• Air Force is second in DI in scoring defense, as the Falcons are allowing just 8.64 goals per game. High Point is fifth in scoring offense at 14.55 goals per game.

Air Force and Richmond Face Off Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tim Baker

Quentin Carlile

Jack Flynn

Trent Harper

Braden Host

Footer