Air Force defeats No. 6 LMU in conference game

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Air Force and sixth-ranked Loyola Marymount split a pair of overtime games, Saturday, Jan. 30, at the Burns Center in Los Angeles. Air Force won the first game, 15-13 in overtime, in the Western Water Polo Association game. LMU won the non-conference game, 18-17, in overtime.

In the first game, Campbell Harris scored four goals to lead the Falcons to their first win of the season. The first quarter seesawed back and forth as Jason Hires, Grant Snyder, Ian Shepherd and Harris scored for a 4-3 Air Force lead. Shepherd and Harris each scored in the second quarter, but the Lions had a 7-6 lead at the half.

Harris scored on a five-meter shot and Fuller found the back of the net on the power play as the Falcons had a 10-9 lead entering the fourth. Snyder put the Falcons up 11-9, but LMU roared back to take a 12-11 lead. Fuller, with an assist from Snyder, tied the game with 4:06 remaining. Hires gave the Falcons a 13-12 lead with 15 seconds remaining, but LMU tied the game three seconds later. Snyder's shot, in a 7-on-6 situation, went just wide at the buzzer. Fuller netted the eventual game winner, from Henry Yavitt, at 2:41 of the first overtime period. Fuller then set up Snyder with 53 seconds left in the second overtime to seal the win.

Fuller had eight points in the game on three goals and five assists. Snyder had five points on three goals and two assists. Hires had two goals and two assists. Snyder won all six sprints in the game. Sophomore A.J. Kuypers made nine saves for the Falcons in his first collegiate win.

"It was a great team win," head coach Ryan Brown said. "We had to overcome some adversity during the game, but sticking together as a team is what got us through."

In the second game, Snyder scored a career-high eight goals, but LMU rallied for an 18-17 overtime win in a non-conference game. Air Force again scored first as Snyder scored from Fuller. Two more by Snyder, and one from Harris, gave the Falcons a 4-1 advantage midway through the first quarter. Fuller gave the Falcons a 5-1 lead late in the first, but LMU came roaring back to make it 5-3 after the first eight minutes. LMU scored four quick goals in the second for a 7-5 lead. Gavin Jones scored late in the second as the Falcons trailed 7-6 at the half.

Goals by Harris and Snyder in the third tied the game at 8-8. Hires scored twice late in the third and Jones added another, but the Falcons trailed 12-11 entering the fourth quarter. Snyder and Ian Christie each scored twice early in the fourth as the Falcons built a 15-13 lead with four minutes remaining. The Lions battled back to tie the game at 15-15 and force overtime. Each team scored a goal in the first overtime with Snyder scoring the Air Force goal from Harris. The score remained tied at 16-16 until late in the second overtime. LMU scored two goals in the final two minutes and Snyder scored for the Falcons in the final 10 seconds to make the score 18-17. Junior Anthony Tolbert made 11 saves.

In addition to Snyder's eight goals, he added two assists for a career-high 10 points. Snyder filled up the stat sheet by winning five of the six sprints he took, drawing four exclusions and having three steals. Freshman Ian Christie had a career high three points (1-2-3). Fuller (1-2-3), Jones (2-1-3) and Harris (2-1-3) all had three points as well.

"We played well in the second game, but we need to clean up our turnovers," Brown said. "We missed on some opportunities, but a solid game in many ways."

Air Force (1-3 overall, 1-0 WWPA) travels to Sherman, Texas, for a pair of non-conference games against Austin College, Saturday, Feb. 6, at 11:00 am and 3:00 pm CT.

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