Air Force Upends No. 17 Grand Canyon, 2-1, on Senior Day

USAF ACADEMY – Air Force rallied from an early deficit to knock off the 17^th-ranked Grand Canyon, 2-1, in the regular-season finale, Saturday afternoon at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons, now 9-7-1, 8-3 WAC, gave a proper farewell to six seniors who led the way in the upset of the WAC's regular-season champions. GCU, now 14-3, 9-2 WAC, will take a bye in the first round of the league championship.

The Lopes were first to strike as Justin Rasmussen assisted Marios Andreou with a goal in the 12^th minute. The Falcons battled back to an equalizer in the 25^th minute as sophomore midfielder Remi Smith flicked the ball up-and-over a defender in the box where senior Lathan Spadafora headed it in past the goalie.

The teams entered the locker room at the half tied at one. Air Force held a one-shot advantage in the first half, 5-4.

The Falcons and Lopes carried the intensity into the second half as both squads fought for the win, but it was Air Force who found the game-winning goal. Senior co-team captain Giuliano Daniel assisted senior teammate Tristan Trager with the game-winner in the 66^th minute. Trager concluded the regular-season campaign with 12 goals and a conference-high 31 points. Daniel was credited with his sixth assist of the season, second-most on the team behind Trager's seven.

GCU fought to the last second bus was unable to get one by the staunch Air Force defense anchored by London Aghedo and Kainoa Likewise in frame. Likewise recorded his ninth win of the season in the victory. Falcon defenders Jake Chaffetz and Tyler Johnson were instrumental in keeping the Lopes under pressure. The four aforementioned defenders all clocked 90 minutes of action on the pitch.

"What a terrific way to end senior day," head coach Doug Hill elated. "It was fitting that the seniors led the team today, both on the offensive side of the ball and in goal. It was still a team win and I couldn't be more proud of the offense, defense and transitions we made. At the beginning of the season we set a goal to not lose a conference match at home and today we can proudly say mission complete."

"Getting the win today helped us check the box on another goal," Hill continued. "We wanted to finish top-three in the conference and we did that after today. Beating the top team in the conference means a lot and it's going to give us our mojo walking into the conference tournament."

Prior to the regular season finale, the Falcons honored six seniors in team captains Giuliano Daniel and Jared Dove, along with Kainoa Likewise, Michael Neacsu, Lathan Spadafora and Tristan Trager.

Next up, the Falcons will head to the WAC Tournament hosted by Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona. Complete seeding is expected to release at the conclusion of Saturday's regular season matches. The final WAC match of the season will be Dixie State at UNLV, or San Jose State at Seattle U. Both matches are slated for 7 p.m. PT starts.

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