Air Force Drops Overtime Heartbreaker Against Jacksonville

USAF ACADEMY – Jacksonville rallied from behind to knock off the front-running Falcons in overtime, 10-9, at a foggy Falcon Stadium, Saturday afternoon. Air Force, taking the first league loss this season, is 8-5 overall with a 7-1 mark in the conference. The Falcons celebrated 11 seniors prior to the event for Senior Day.

The Falcons got off to a hot start with a 5-0 scoring run over the first 27 minutes of the ASUN heavyweight clash. Air Force young guns Hunter Panzik, Turner Ashby, and Blaze DeGracie combined for four of the five goals while junior midfielder Alexander Stepney notched one via Josh Yago's assist. Falcon freshman Mana Wilhelm assisted Panzik in the first goal.

Jacksonville (10-4, 7-1 ASUN) scored their first goal at 2:07 in the second quarter, marking the longest scoring drought of the season for the conference powerhouse. JU put up just two goals in the second quarter, hitting the halftime locker room trailing, 6-2.

Both teams put up two goals in the third quarter. Falcon Freshman Jake Mason was first to score out of the break via feed from Cole Rassas, tallying his sixth goal this season. Rassas was the next to score with an unassisted attack at the 4:03 mark for his 10^th goal.

JU scored three straight goals in the latter half of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, chopping the AF lead to one goal, 7-6. Wilhelm, determined to fend off the attack, shot a ripper through the five hole of Ryan Della Rocca. Ashby, the leading freshman scorer on the team, followed up with his second goal of the game, 22^nd of the season.

Jacksonville, hungry to knock off the league's top team, rattled off three straight goals in three minutes to knot the game up at nine. Despite having drawn-up plays and full possessions, neither team was able to convert a game-winning goal in regulation.

The situation went awry for the Falcons in the overtime period as a penalty flag on the turf yielded Jacksonville a free play and time to settle in. With the shot clock near expiration, JU's Anthony Caputo slung in the game-winner via Jack Taylor's assist.

When the dust settled, Air Force out shot Jacksonville, 44-43. Yago led the squad with nine shots attempted, six of which were on goal. The Falcons scooped up 28 ground balls to the Dolphins' 27; Ashby, Knapp, and Cole Cunningham picked up an impressive five ground balls apiece. At center X, Jake Knapp won 13-of-22 attempts, facilitating AF's success throughout the game.

Junior goalie Jake Marek was a warrior in cage, making a career-best 19 saves, tying for fourth in the record book in single-game saves. Marek is 3-1 in as many attempts in goal for Air Force.

Next up, the Falcons will play the regular season finale at Robert Morris, Saturday (April 27), in Pittsburgh. Action at Joe Walton Stadium is slated for noon ET. Air Force remains in contention for the regular season conference title and top seed in the ASUN Championship.

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