Falcons knock off No. 9 UC San Diego

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Sam Fuller scored five goals and A.J. Kuypers made nine saves to lead No. 20 Air Force to a 15-13 win over ninth-ranked UC San Diego in a Western Water Polo Association game, Friday, Oct. 1, at the Academy's Cadet Natatorium. Air Force improves to 2-0 in the WWPA and 12-2 overall this season. The win marks the highest ranked team ever defeated under head coach Ryan Brown (in a non-COVID year).

Air Force raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter. A pair of goals by Fuller and a pair by Grant Snyder put the Falcons up 4-0 in the first four minutes of the game. Jacob Yi scored and then Fuller scored his third of the night for a 6-0 lead. UCSD scored the next two but Corey Tanis gave the Falcons a 7-2 lead with a no-look shot right in front of the cage.

The Tritons came out in the second quarter with two quick goals to cut the Falcon lead to 7-4. Fuller netted his fourth of the game, but the Tritons answered with two more to cut the AF lead to 8-6. Ian Christie and Gavin Jones scored late in the second as the Falcons had a 10-8 lead at the half.

Two more goals by Jones early in the third gave the Falcons a 12-9 lead. Fuller scored with 60 seconds left in the third and then Henry Yavitt batted a ball in for a 14-9 lead early in the fourth. Snyder's third of the game gave the Falcons a 15-10 lead with 5:11 left. The Falcon defense held strong late as the offense managed the clock down the stretch.

Snyder finished with a game-high seven points (3-4-7) while Fuller had six points and Jones had five (2-3-5). In addition to his nine saves, Kuypers had three steals.

"A.J. played great tonight," Brown said. "Our defense was solid and we made some good decisions on offense. UC San Diego is a fantastic team. We knew they would come back on us and they did. But credit to our guys, they hung in there and battled. UCSD has a great counter attack and we did a good job of limiting our turnovers. I'm so happy for our guys and the way they played."

Air Force returns to action with a pair of road conference games on Oct. 9. Air Force will play at 19^th-ranked Loyola Marymount at 11 am PT in Los Angeles and then at Biola at 7:30 pm PT in La Mirada, Calif.

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Players Mentioned

Ian Christie

Sam Fuller

Gavin Jones

A.J. Kuypers

Grant Snyder

Corey Tanis

Henry Yavitt

Jacob Yi

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