Falcons beat No. 20 Brown, 14-12

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force water polo team swept a pair of games on the first day of the Rare Air 2 – Air Force Water Polo Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Cadet Natatorium. After a 15-8 win over Lindenwood in an exhibition, the Falcons defeated No. 20 Brown, 14-12, for Air Force's first win over a ranked team this season.

In Air Force's first game, the Falcons defeated Lindenwood in an exhibition game, 15-8. The teams traded goal in the first quarter with Air Force holding a 4-3 lead after goals by Mike Miller and Grant Snyder on penalty shots. A pair of goals by Campbell Harris in the second gave the Falcons a 6-4 lead. Sebastian Sak's penalty shot put the Falcons up three goals and then Neil Reynolds scored late in the second for an 8-5 lead at the half. Air Force took control in the third quarter, out-scoring the Lions, 5-1. Henry Yavitt got the Falcons going with a penalty shot just 58 seconds into the third quarter. Goals by Corey Tanis, Harris, Miller and Sam Fuller gave the Falcons a 13-6 lead entering the fourth quarter. Snyder and Reynolds each scored in the final quarter for the win.

In the second game of the day, the Falcons held off a second-half surge by Brown for the 14-12 win. Brown had a 2-1 lead early in the first quarter, but Air Force scored four straight goals for a 5-2 lead. Grant Snyder tied the game and Ian Shepherd gave the Falcons a lead. A pair of goals by Reagan Pittman, the second on a penalty shot, put the Falcons up three goals at 2:14 of the second quarter. After a Brown goal, Corey Tanis and Eric Kawecki scored in the final 90 seconds of the second for a 7-3 lead at the half.

A pair of Brown goals cut the AF lead to 7-5, but Tanis' second of the game gave the Falcons a two-goal cushion on the power play at 3:04. Pittman's third of the game came with 39 seconds left in the third, but the Bears answered as the Falcons had a 9-7 lead entering the fourth. Brown's Adam Fuller, the brother to Air Force's Sam Fuller, scored early in the fourth, but Mike Miller answered on the power play to make the score 10-8. Aidan Reilly scored for the Bears, but Pittman scored on the power play and the Falcons maintained the two-goal lead. However, two goals by the Bears tied the game with 1:11 remaining. Grant Snyder put the Falcons up 11-10 with 53 seconds remaining. With under 20 seconds left, a shot by the Bears was deflected off a Falcon defender and went wide of the cage. Henry Yavitt then added an insurance goal with one second left. Pittman led the Falcons with a season high four goals while Snyder added three.

"This one came right down to the wire," head coach Ryan Brown said. "We always tell the guys that is we have to play the full four quarters and we battled all the way to the end tonight. The highlights for us were our 6-on-5 play and we then we scored the goals when we needed to answer them. We played 15 guys and they all contributed at some point in the game. Our depth helped us as the game played out."
The tournament continues on Sunday, Sept. 22, as the Falcons face No. 9 Long Beach State at 10:30 am and Chapman at 3:30 pm.

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Players Mentioned

Sam Fuller

Campbell Harris

Eric Kawecki

Mike Miller

Reagan Pittman

Neil Reynolds

Sebastian Sak

Ian Shepherd

Grant Snyder

Corey Tanis

Henry Yavitt

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