Air Force Academy
Bellarmine
Falcon Lacrosse Hosts Bellarmine in Regular Season Finale
4/26/2019 11:24:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Air Force lacrosse will celebrate 12 seniors prior the game, Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
The Falcons return to the Academy for the regular-season finale against Bellarmine, 12 p.m. MT, Saturday, Apr. 27 at Falcon Stadium. The game will also serve as Senior Day, where Air Force will honor 12 seniors prior the game. A live stream and live stats will be available on GoAirForceFalcons.com. Listeners can tune in on LacrosseTalkRadio.com, with play-by-play host, Dan Matthews.
THE SERIES WITH BELLARMINE
-The series began in 2006, Air Force leads the 14-game series, 11-3
-Air Force has won the last six meetings
-Last time they played at USAFA, the Falcons routed the Knights, 20-2
-Air Force is 5-1 against the Knights when playing at USAFA
-The last time Bellarmine beat Air Force at the Academy was in 2010
-Air Force has only allowed Bellarmine to score double digit goals on three occasions, each accounting for an Air Force loss
A LOOK AHEAD
The Falcons, along with Richmond, High Point and Jacksonville, secured a Southern Conference tournament berth following their respective wins last weekend. The playoff field will learn the seedlings at the conclusion of this weekend's action. Air Force is in a three-way tie with Richmond and High Point for the lead of the conference. High Point and Richmond face-off in their season finale, Saturday afternoon. The SoCon tournament semi-finals kick off, Thursday, May 2, in High Point, North Carolina. Air Force downed Jacksonville in SoCon semi-finals in 2016, and beat Richmond in two-straight SoCon championships in 2016 and 2017. The Falcons did not win a post-season bid last season.=
AIR FORCE NOTABLES
-Air Force has the best DI scoring defense in the nation as the Falcons are allowing just 8.23 goals per game
-Braden Host has the best goals against average of any keeper in the nation, allowing just 7.98 goals per game
-Trent Harper became just the second player in SoCon league history to amass 500 faceoff wins in his career with his 18-for-23 effort against Richmond. He is 519-for-909 (.571) in his career. Harper has the best faceoff win-percentage in the conference and sixth-best in the nation
-Trey Lervick leads the team with 47 points (31g, 16a); he scored a team-high and career-high nine points via five goals and four assists against Mercer. He has six hat tricks this season
-Brandon Jones and Quentin Carlie have the second and fourth most caused turnovers in the SoCon, respectively. They are both top-25 in the nation in CTs
-Tim Baker has scored a goal or more in eight-of-nine appearances, including hat tricks in his first-two showings
-Matthew Schwartz has started in all contests this season, netting a goal in nine games
-Following the win against Richmond, Air Force is receiving votes in all three polls
-Air Force has outscored all opponents this season, 150-107
-The Falcons have doubled-up six opponents on goals this season
-Seven Falcons account for 18 hat tricks this season
LAST TIME OUT
Air Force outscored VMI, 12-5, Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Virginia. The Falcons improved to 9-4 overall with a 5-1 mark in league play heading into the regular season finale, next weekend. VMI dropped to 4-8 overall as the Keydets remain winless in the league.
Jack Flynn led the offense with three goals on eight shots and an assist to his credit. Flynn's four-point performance marked a season-high for the senior co-team captain. He has three hat tricks on the season. Senior midfielder Tim Baker notched a pair of goals on six shots, tallying 15 goals on the season. Baker has scored a goal or more in eight-of-nine appearances after missing the first three games with an injury. Seven other Falcons notched a goal apiece, including a career first for Evan Place. The high-powered Falcon offense has doubled up six opponents this season.
Senior face-off specialist Trent Harper dominated the face off X, winning 14-of-16 (.875) attempts while picking up a game-high 10 ground balls for the third time in the last four games. Harper, who won his 500th face off last weekend, has claimed victory at center X in 11 contests this season.
The Air Force defense caused 10 of VMI's 21 turnovers, led Vince Lombardi with a pair of caused turnovers to his credit. Senior co-team captain and linchpin defender Brandon Jones snagged five ground balls and added a caused turnover to his stat line. Jones leads the team with 70 ground balls and 26 caused turnovers.
Sophomore keeper Braden Host, who has the second-best goals against average in the nation, had another stellar game in the Falcons' cage, recording nine saves while allowing just three goals in 53-minutes of action. Host, along with the staunch Air Force defense, has held 10 opponents to single-digit goals this season.
LAST TIME AIR FORCE PLAYED BELLARMINE
Matthew Schwartz notched a career-high five goals to lift Air Force to a 9-7 win over Bellarmine in Southern Conference action, Saturday afternoon (Mar. 31), at Frazier Stadium, Louisville, Kentucky. At the final whistle, Air Force held the advantage in shots, 31-23, led by Schwartz with seven. Trent Harper had another successful performance at the face off X, winning 11 face offs in 19 attempts (.579), while scooping up three ground balls. Kyle Richbourg led the team with four ground balls picked up. Then-freshman goalkeeper Braden Host recorded his fourth victory in Air Force's cage, recording six saves on the day.
NEWS AROUND THE LEAGUE
• The regular season comes to an end for all eight Southern Conference men's lacrosse teams Saturday, with at least a share of the regular-season title still in reach for three teams.
• Air Force, High Point and Richmond all enter play Saturday with the potential to claim at least a share of the title. High Point hosts Richmond, so one of them will finish 6-1 in league play, while Air Force would also finish 6-1 with a win over Bellarmine.
• Richmond is seeking its fourth regular-season title in five years in the SoCon, while Air Force is looking for its third in four years. High Point seeks it second straight. The title has been shared in each of the last two years.
• Jacksonville will join those three in the SoCon Men's Lacrosse Championship, which will take place May 2-4 at High Point's Vert Stadium.
• Richmond is the defending tournament champion.
• High Point's Asher Nolting was named one of 25 nominees for the Tewaaraton Award on Thursday and was one of just two sophomores on the list for the top honor in collegiate lacrosse.
• The Panthers are ranked No. 14 in the USILA, 12th in the Inside Lacrosse poll and 15th in the Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine poll. Air Force is receiving votes in all three polls, while Richmond is in the Inside Lacrosse and Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine polls.
• Richmond defender Jason Reynolds was named to the USILA Team of the Week on Tuesday after posting four ground balls and five caused turnovers in a 15-9 win over Mercer on April 20.
• At 11-2 overall, High Point has set a program record for wins, surpassing the 10 from 2015.
• Richmond senior attack Teddy Hatfield, who has scored 31 goals this year, needs just two assists to join High Point sophomore Asher Nolting as the only players in the league history to post a 30-goal, 30-assist season.
• Nolting, who has done so in each of his two seasons so far, has a league-record 40 assists and needs just four more goals for the first-ever 40-40 season in SoCon history. His 76 points are also a league record, surpassing the 66 he had last year as a freshman.
• Hatfield is five assists shy of becoming the first SoCon player to notch 100 for his career.
• Richmond is the only program to have appeared in the SoCon tournament in each season since the league added the sport in 2015.
• VMI's Kyle Walsh, the league's career leader in caused turnovers with 125, was held without one for the first time this season against Air Force on April 20. The senior still leads NCAA Division I this season with 3.42 per game.
• High Point goalkeeper Tim Troutner Jr. earned the win in the net against Bellarmine on April 20 to take sole possession of the wins record with 29 in his career, breaking a tie with former Richmond goalkeeper Benny Pugh, who had 28 from 2015-17.
• Richmond's Ryan Lanchbury had two goals in the Spiders' 15-9 win over Mercer on April 20, pushing his season total to 41, second-best in a season in league history. The record of 43 was set by High Point's Dan Lomas in 2015.
• Air Force keeper Braden Host leads NCAA Division I this season with a 7.98 goals against average.
• Mercer is third in DI in clearing percentage at .907.
• Air Force leads DI in scoring defense, as the Falcons are allowing just 8.23 goals per game. High Point is fourth in scoring offense at 14.85 goals per game.
• Jacksonville (third, 11.38), VMI (fifth, 11.08) and High Point (ninth, 10.08) are all in the top 10 in DI in caused turnovers per game.
