Air Force Drops Heartbreaking Loss on Senior Day

USAF ACADEMY – Seattle U came from behind to knock off Western Athletic Conference leader Air Force, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons, with a league high 19 points in the conference standings, drops to 6-1-1 in the WAC and 7-5-3 overall. The Redhawks improve to 6-8-1, 5-3 WAC.

The Falcons laid it on heavy early in the match, scoring a pair of strikes on eight shots inside the opening 25 minutes. Senior midfielder Jake Angeletti notched his first goal of the season on Senior Day, taking a feed from Thaddaeus Dewing and finishing left foot in the 10^th minute. Moments later, Angeletti serviced a corner kick across the box to London Aghedo who finished with a header in the 25^th minute. Angeletti has a league-best 8 assists this season.

Seattle U began there battle back into the match in the 29^th minute with a successful penalty kick to the low left from Peter Kingston for his first goal this season. Just over 10 minutes later, the Redhawks equalized via set piece from the corner as Habib Barry serviced Christian Koontz. Seattle took the lead in the 42^nd minute via another corner kick this time from the near side that led to a deflection and reshot from Nathan Lobo.

Early in the second half, Air Force lit up with a foul in the box leading to a PK from Thaddaeus Dewing. Dewing took a stutter step against Akili Hasim and got the Redhawk keeper to jump the opposite direction of the ball. The goal marked Dewing's 11^th goal this season and second successful PK in as many tries. Dewing leads the WAC in points (25) and goals.

Following a brief injury timeout and substitution of Falcon keeper John Byszewski, Seattle attacked the box where Peter Kingston capitalized for the game-winner in the 84^th minute. Air Force was unable to plug in an equalizer as the clocked ticked to nil.

Air Force outshot SU 12-9 in the first half but only took two shots in the second half while the Redhawks fired of six second-half attempts. Byszewski made five saves on the day before retiring in the 83^rd minute. The Falcon defensive unit led by Aghedo with Tyler Johnson and Jake Chaffetz clocked 90 minutes of action. Angeletti and Dewing also played all minutes on the attacking side.

"It's disappointing to lose a Senior Day game," head coach Doug Hill said. "We got stretched in the midfield and they were good on there set pieces which is what kept them in the game. The best news is we still have a first round bye in the conference tournament and we will get to see these good teams again in the playoffs. The men gave a 100-percent effort today, their attitude and mentality are great looking forward. They're a tough and resilient team and they will bounce back— it's all about how you respond to these things and this kind of team is going to respond well. We're hungry for that next win."

In the wake of the loss, Air Force's regular season conference title rested on the shoulders of Grand Canyon who upended second-place San Jose State, 1-0, to secure the Falcons' third WAC regular season title.

Next up, the Falcons conclude the regular season campaign at Grand Canyon, Saturday (Nov. 5), in Phoenix, Arizona. Action is slated to start at 7 p.m. MT at GCU Soccer Stadium.

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