Falcons drop two at SoCal Invitational

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The Air Force water polo team dropped a pair of games to Top 15 teams on the second day of the SoCal Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 28, in Los Angeles, Calif.

In the first game of the day, the Falcons fell to ninth-ranked UC Davis, 16-9. After a scoreless first period, UCD scored the first three goals for a 3-0 lead at 5:57 of the second. Sam Fuller put the Falcons on the board at 4:49 of the second. Falcon goals by Mike Miller and Grant Snyder cut the UCD lead to 4-3 at 2:04 of the second. The Aggies scored the next three goals, but Neil Reynolds found the back of the net with two seconds left in the second quarter to make the score 7-4 at the half.

The Falcons again dug into the UCD lead as Miller and Fuller scored early in the third to cut the Aggie advantage to 7-6 at 5:18. UCD then scored the next five goals for a 12-6 lead late in the third. Miller scored with four seconds left in the third to make the score 12-7 entering the fourth. Ian Shepherd and Henry Yavitt scored in the fourth, but the Aggies scored four in the final quarter for a 16-9 win.

Miller had three goals while Fuller had two. Reagan Pittman, the national leader in assists, had six helpers in the game. Miller, the national leader in sprint wins, was a perfect 3-for-3. Anthony Tolbert made seven saves.

In the second game of the day, a late Falcon rally came up just short in a 12-10 loss to 14^th-ranked Princeton. Trailing 2-0, Snyder scored at 4:31 of the first quarter. The Tigers scored the next five goals for a 7-1 lead before Snyder netted his second of the game. Princeton led 8-2 at the half, but the Falcons out-scored the Tigers, 5-4, in the third quarter. Gavin Jones scored just 38 seconds into the third quarter. Miller then scored three straight to cut the Tiger lead to 10-6 at 4:42 of the third. Jones added his second of the game as the Falcons trailed 12-7 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was all Air Force. Goalie James Burke replaced Tolbert in goal and saved the only shot he faced in the period. Jones scored three goals in the quarter, the last coming at 3:06 to cut the Tiger lead to 12-10. Neither team scored in the final three minutes.

Jones had a career-high five goals in the game. Miller had three against Princeton for six goals on the day. Yavitt had three assists against the Tigers. Miller won three more sprints for a total of six on the day.

Air Force (7-7 overall) will face 20^th-ranked San Jose State, Sunday, Sept. 29, at 8:30 am PT at LMU Pool in Los Angeles, Calif.

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Players Mentioned

James Burke

Sam Fuller

Gavin Jones

Mike Miller

Reagan Pittman

Neil Reynolds

Ian Shepherd

Grant Snyder

Anthony Tolbert

Henry Yavitt

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