Air Force Opens WCC Play With 16-12 Win Over #13 San Jose State

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force (14-9 overall, 1-0 WCC) opened West Coast Conference play with a 16-12 win over #13 San Jose State (4-6, 1-1 WCC) Saturday in men's water polo action Saturday afternoon at the Cadet Natatorium. The Falcons have now won seven of their last eight games.

Freshman Jack Richards led the way with seven points on four goals and three assists. Senior Ian Christie and freshman Tom Leggett added five points each. Christie tallied a goal and four assists and Leggett scored two goals to go with three assists. Junior Liam Markus recorded seven saves to pick up the win in goal.

Air Force controlled the game from the start, jumping ahead 5-1 early. The Falcons led 7-3 after the first quarter of play. Air Force went on to match the Spartans in goals the rest of the way to claim the win in its first-ever WCC conference game.

Air Force led 11-7 at the half and 13-9 after the third quarter. The teams traded three goals each in the fourth, with the Falcons bleeding the clock out with their ball control offense.

Air Force was strong on the power play, converting 6-of-11 chances, good for a 54.5 percent success rate. The Falcon defense held the Spartans to 3-of-16 on power plays, for an 18.8 percent success rate.

"We came ready to play from the beginning," head coach Ryan Brown said. "The keys to the game for us were to start strong, which we did. To finish our six-on-five's, which we did. We also knew we had to battle in the five-on-five matchups and we did."

Air Force returns to action next weekend at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, hosted by Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif., where it will take on Fresno Pacific, Brown and Bucknell.

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