
Falcon Lacrosse to Take on No. 9 Duke This Saturday
3/7/2025 10:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
AIR FORCE (2-4) at #9 DUKE (5-1)
12 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 8
Falcon Stadium - USAFA, Colo.
The Falcons hit the road to take on the perennial powerhouse No. 9 Duke on Saturday, March 8. Action at Koskinen Stadium is slated for noon ET. The Falcons will play the Blue Devils and Marquette on the road before the ASUN Conference slate, March 29.
The History
The Falcons and Blue Devils are meeting for the 10th time in program history with Duke leading the all-time series, 6-3. Duke has only played Air Force at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils are on a two-game winning streak from games in 2021 and 2023.
All three of Air Force's wins have been decided by one goal. The Falcons won two straight in 2016 (10-9 OT) and 2017 (11-10). AF's most recent win was in 2020 where Air Force came out on top, 14-13. In all six of Duke's wins, was at least double in score while being held to single digits.
Air Force Sweeps ASUN Weekly Awards, Mar. 4
Air Force's Caelan Driggs and Cole Cunningham earned this week's Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Men's Lacrosse awards, announced Monday by the league office.
Driggs scored a career-best seven points on four goals and three assists in the Falcons game against Quinnipiac. He helped Air Force earn an Academy single-game record of 35 points and 17 assists. The junior raised his own personal best to eight points on five goals in Air Force's game against Marist in which he notched a hat trick in the first half. Cunningham allowed just eight goals each in the Falcon's two games this weekend. He picked up three ground balls and tallied an assist against Quinnipiac. Against Marist, he picked up a game-high and career-best eight ground balls, improving the Falcons to a season-high of 36.
A Quick Look at AF
The Falcons are back in the winning column in a big way after a 2-0 weekend against Quinnipiac and Marist where they smashed two program records against Quinnipiac with 38 points and 17 assists on February 28. The back-to-back 20 goal games is the first time since 1995.
The offense is led by senior team captain Josh Yago and junior Caelan Driggs who combine for 55 points in six games. Driggs leads the squad with 20 goals and has had four hat tricks this season highlighted by a pair of five-goal games at Ohio State and against Marist— he is first in the ASUN in goals per game (3.33) and third in the league in points per game (4.50).
Yago cleared the century mark in career points following the thrashing of Quinnipiac— he now has 112 career points and checks in at 10th in the record book. Yago is the squad's primary helper with 15 assists— he is 12th in the NCAA and leads the ASUN in assists per game (2.50). Yago's 57 career assists ranks him fifth in the record book, surpassing Mike Crampton ('14) who had 51.
At center X, senior faceoff specialist Daniel Haimes has won the most faceoffs in four of his six appearances (45-88, .511). Senior faceoff specialist Jake Knapp took the reins in the last two games, winning 17-of-35 faceoffs last weekend (.486). AF's key defender is Cole Cunningham who leads the team with 31 ground balls and averages 5.00 ground balls and a CTO per game. In goal, senior keeper Jake Marek has taken all five starts. He has a .472 save percentage and a 11.63 GAA.
A Look at the Blue Devils
Duke will take the field under the command of coach John Danowski. In Danowski's 17 years at the helm of the Blue Devils lacrosse program, he has compiled an impressive 240-74 record in leading Duke to nine ACC regular season titles, four ACC tournament titles, 12 appearances in the NCAA semifinals, including eight straight from 2007-14, six in the NCAA title match and ultimately to the 2010, 2013 and 2014 national titles.
The Blue Devils' offense shows depth as four players have 11+ goals on the season, led by Eric Malever who 12 goals and 12 assists to lead the team in points. The Falcon defense will have its work cut out against Andrew McAdorey (11g, 6a), Luke Grayum (12g, 3a), Benn Johnston (12g, 3a), and Max Sloat (5g, 9a).
The Duke defense is led by Aidan Maguire (15 CTO, 22gb) and Charlie Johnson (14 CTO, 10 gb). At the center dot, Ben McArthy has most faceoff attempts (38-71, .535) and splits times with Luke Engelke (36-62, .581). In goal, Patrick Jameison has all six starts this season, boasting a 9.03 GAA and .625 save percentage.
Last Weekend
Air Force went 2-0 at Falcon Stadium on Friday and Sunday contests against Quinnipiac and Marist, respectively. The Falcons rearranged the record book while on the war path, downing Quinnipiac 21-8, and Marist, 23-8. Air Force's back-to-back 20+ goal games is the first time since 1995. The last time the Falcons scored 23+ goals was in 1997.
Quinnipiac Highlights
-The Falcons' 38 points is the most single-game points in program history, overtaking the 35-point game against Bellarmine in 2017.
-AF's 17 assists are the most single-game assists in program history, overtaking the 14 assists made against Mercer in 2019.
-The Falcons took a season-best 50 shots on the game, 31were taken on goal
-Two Falcons had seven-point showings in Caelan Driggs with four goals and three assists, and Josh Yago with three goals and four helps. Both Driggs and Yago attempted a game high eight shots apiece.
-Sophomore Mana Wilhelm notched his first career hat trick, marking the first time this season that three Falcons had hat tricks in a single game.
Marist Highlights
-The 16 AF goals in the first half marked the most first-half goals in program history.
-The Falcons' nine goals in the first quarter was the first time scoring as many goals in a quarter since putting up 10 in the first quarter against Mercer in 2019.
-The Falcons put up a season best 50 shots for the second-straight game and had a season-best .460 shot percentage (23-50).
-AF picked up 36 ground balls for the second-straight game led by Cole Cunningham who picked up a career-best eight ground balls.
-The 32 shots on goal are the best of the new season, overtaking the previous game's high of 31 shots on goal.
- Driggs scored a career best eight points on five goals and three assists, bringing his weekend total to nine goals and six assists.
- Yago notched his second-straight seven-point game via five goals and two helps, bringing his weekend total to eight goals and six assists. Yago leads the Falcons with 28 points this season and has 112 career points in three seasons of action.
-Senior midfielder Wes Peene scored three goals for his second hat trick this season, upping his season goals totals to 12. Peene's hat trick marked the second-straight game for AF to have three players with three or more goals.
Coming Up
Air Force meets up with Marquette on neutral turf as the teams are set to face off at the Loyola Academy, March 22, in Chicago, Illinois. The game marks the final non-conference contest of the 2025 campaign. Action is slated for 12 pm CST.
12 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 8
Falcon Stadium - USAFA, Colo.
The Falcons hit the road to take on the perennial powerhouse No. 9 Duke on Saturday, March 8. Action at Koskinen Stadium is slated for noon ET. The Falcons will play the Blue Devils and Marquette on the road before the ASUN Conference slate, March 29.
The History
The Falcons and Blue Devils are meeting for the 10th time in program history with Duke leading the all-time series, 6-3. Duke has only played Air Force at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils are on a two-game winning streak from games in 2021 and 2023.
All three of Air Force's wins have been decided by one goal. The Falcons won two straight in 2016 (10-9 OT) and 2017 (11-10). AF's most recent win was in 2020 where Air Force came out on top, 14-13. In all six of Duke's wins, was at least double in score while being held to single digits.
Air Force Sweeps ASUN Weekly Awards, Mar. 4
Air Force's Caelan Driggs and Cole Cunningham earned this week's Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Men's Lacrosse awards, announced Monday by the league office.
Driggs scored a career-best seven points on four goals and three assists in the Falcons game against Quinnipiac. He helped Air Force earn an Academy single-game record of 35 points and 17 assists. The junior raised his own personal best to eight points on five goals in Air Force's game against Marist in which he notched a hat trick in the first half. Cunningham allowed just eight goals each in the Falcon's two games this weekend. He picked up three ground balls and tallied an assist against Quinnipiac. Against Marist, he picked up a game-high and career-best eight ground balls, improving the Falcons to a season-high of 36.
A Quick Look at AF
The Falcons are back in the winning column in a big way after a 2-0 weekend against Quinnipiac and Marist where they smashed two program records against Quinnipiac with 38 points and 17 assists on February 28. The back-to-back 20 goal games is the first time since 1995.
The offense is led by senior team captain Josh Yago and junior Caelan Driggs who combine for 55 points in six games. Driggs leads the squad with 20 goals and has had four hat tricks this season highlighted by a pair of five-goal games at Ohio State and against Marist— he is first in the ASUN in goals per game (3.33) and third in the league in points per game (4.50).
Yago cleared the century mark in career points following the thrashing of Quinnipiac— he now has 112 career points and checks in at 10th in the record book. Yago is the squad's primary helper with 15 assists— he is 12th in the NCAA and leads the ASUN in assists per game (2.50). Yago's 57 career assists ranks him fifth in the record book, surpassing Mike Crampton ('14) who had 51.
At center X, senior faceoff specialist Daniel Haimes has won the most faceoffs in four of his six appearances (45-88, .511). Senior faceoff specialist Jake Knapp took the reins in the last two games, winning 17-of-35 faceoffs last weekend (.486). AF's key defender is Cole Cunningham who leads the team with 31 ground balls and averages 5.00 ground balls and a CTO per game. In goal, senior keeper Jake Marek has taken all five starts. He has a .472 save percentage and a 11.63 GAA.
A Look at the Blue Devils
Duke will take the field under the command of coach John Danowski. In Danowski's 17 years at the helm of the Blue Devils lacrosse program, he has compiled an impressive 240-74 record in leading Duke to nine ACC regular season titles, four ACC tournament titles, 12 appearances in the NCAA semifinals, including eight straight from 2007-14, six in the NCAA title match and ultimately to the 2010, 2013 and 2014 national titles.
The Blue Devils' offense shows depth as four players have 11+ goals on the season, led by Eric Malever who 12 goals and 12 assists to lead the team in points. The Falcon defense will have its work cut out against Andrew McAdorey (11g, 6a), Luke Grayum (12g, 3a), Benn Johnston (12g, 3a), and Max Sloat (5g, 9a).
The Duke defense is led by Aidan Maguire (15 CTO, 22gb) and Charlie Johnson (14 CTO, 10 gb). At the center dot, Ben McArthy has most faceoff attempts (38-71, .535) and splits times with Luke Engelke (36-62, .581). In goal, Patrick Jameison has all six starts this season, boasting a 9.03 GAA and .625 save percentage.
Last Weekend
Air Force went 2-0 at Falcon Stadium on Friday and Sunday contests against Quinnipiac and Marist, respectively. The Falcons rearranged the record book while on the war path, downing Quinnipiac 21-8, and Marist, 23-8. Air Force's back-to-back 20+ goal games is the first time since 1995. The last time the Falcons scored 23+ goals was in 1997.
Quinnipiac Highlights
-The Falcons' 38 points is the most single-game points in program history, overtaking the 35-point game against Bellarmine in 2017.
-AF's 17 assists are the most single-game assists in program history, overtaking the 14 assists made against Mercer in 2019.
-The Falcons took a season-best 50 shots on the game, 31were taken on goal
-Two Falcons had seven-point showings in Caelan Driggs with four goals and three assists, and Josh Yago with three goals and four helps. Both Driggs and Yago attempted a game high eight shots apiece.
-Sophomore Mana Wilhelm notched his first career hat trick, marking the first time this season that three Falcons had hat tricks in a single game.
Marist Highlights
-The 16 AF goals in the first half marked the most first-half goals in program history.
-The Falcons' nine goals in the first quarter was the first time scoring as many goals in a quarter since putting up 10 in the first quarter against Mercer in 2019.
-The Falcons put up a season best 50 shots for the second-straight game and had a season-best .460 shot percentage (23-50).
-AF picked up 36 ground balls for the second-straight game led by Cole Cunningham who picked up a career-best eight ground balls.
-The 32 shots on goal are the best of the new season, overtaking the previous game's high of 31 shots on goal.
- Driggs scored a career best eight points on five goals and three assists, bringing his weekend total to nine goals and six assists.
- Yago notched his second-straight seven-point game via five goals and two helps, bringing his weekend total to eight goals and six assists. Yago leads the Falcons with 28 points this season and has 112 career points in three seasons of action.
-Senior midfielder Wes Peene scored three goals for his second hat trick this season, upping his season goals totals to 12. Peene's hat trick marked the second-straight game for AF to have three players with three or more goals.
Coming Up
Air Force meets up with Marquette on neutral turf as the teams are set to face off at the Loyola Academy, March 22, in Chicago, Illinois. The game marks the final non-conference contest of the 2025 campaign. Action is slated for 12 pm CST.
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