Falcons take early lead, hold on for win at Nevada

RENO, Nev. – Despite a nail-biting finish in Reno on Thursday evening, Air Force Women's Soccer gathered its first win in Mountain West play off a 1-0 victory on the road over Nevada at Mackay Stadium.

Air Force (5-3-2, 1-1-1 MW) got out to a quick start and managed to maintain a lead throughout the contest. In just the tenth minute, freshman Annika Jost, advancing into the attacking third, found an open Kendall Rippley at the top of the Wolf Pack 18 to score the ultimate game winner off the Falcon's first look at the Nevada net. Rippley's goal marked the third of this season and fourth of her career; Jost's assist was her second.

Rippley managed another pair of looks at the Nevada goal in the opening half. In the 21^st minute, Rippley found Nevada goalkeeper Alyssa Szarlacki out of position, but her attempt glanced off the right post. At 43', she got yet another look from the top of the box in the left of the Wolf Pack net but Szarlacki managed the save, deflecting Rippley's shot out to the left.

Air Force went into the locker room with the 1-0 lead in hand, an 11-3 shot advantage and forcing Szarlacki into six saves.

The Wolf Pack turned it on in the second half, outshooting Air Force 10-5 and forcing the Falcon defense into action. Nevada's first shot on goal came in the 55^th minute and they closed with four shots forced into saves, all of which McElroy were in control of. At 75', Nevada's Eva Wees took a heel shot at McElroy inside the 18 but the Falcon keeper was at the ready, getting both hands on Wees' attempt.

In the 88^th minute, Nevada's Trinity Sandridge took advantage of a cross from the left wing but her shot was just to the left of the Falcon post. Just following at 89', Nevada, in the closing seconds, drew a foul off contact by Jordan Dillingham, awarding a free kick along the left sideline deep in Air Force territory. Nevada's Caly Ah Soon's placed the set piece directly in front of McElroy and the Falcon net. McElroy warded off the initial shot attempt in the scrum - a redirected header from Sandridge - the rebound from McElroy and resulting shot found the left hand side of the net for what seemed to be the tying score, but the goal was waved off for offsides. Air Force held onto its lead throughout the remainder of the contest.

Air Force's 1-0 result marks McElroy's sixth shutout of the 2024 season, placing her third all-time in program shutouts in a single season. Including the game winner, Rippley led the game with five shots and three on goal. Junior Caeli Sherman contributed four shots and one on goal, a forced save in the 30^th minute.

Head Coach Laura Busby on the result:
"I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day. Credit to Nevada's goalkeeper who made some great saves in the first half to keep them in the game. At the end of the day, we came here for three points and we accomplished that mission. We'll recover and set our sights on UNLV."

Up Next:
Air Force remains on the road, taking on UNLV in Las Vegas on Oct. 6.

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