Falcon Lacrosse Set Back at No. 9 Duke, 16-11

DURHAM, N.C. – Despite three players Falcons scoring hat trick performances, Air Force fell to No. 9 Duke, 16-11, Saturday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium. The Falcons dropped to 2-5 while the Blue Devils improved to 6-1.

SIGNIFICANT STATS
-Junior attacker Caelan Driggs led the Falcons with four goals, marking his fifth-straight hat trick and fourth game with four or more goals this season. Driggs leads AF with 25 goals and 32 points.
-Senior team captain Josh Yago scored his third-straight hat trick this season with a three-goal showing. Yago, the AF and ASUN leader in assists heading into the game, finished the game without an assist for the first time this season.
-Junior attacker Ryan Stadelmaier notched his first career hat trick in the first quarter for a career-best scoring performance. He has eight goals this season and has scored a goal in five-straight games.
-Senior keeper Jake Marek made a season-best 17 saves against a season high 40 shots faced.
-The Falcons cleared the ball just 14 times in 25 attempts (.560), marking a low for the season.
-Duke grad student Eric Malever put up nine points on five goals and four assists. Teammate Luke Grayum scored four goals.

GAME NOTES
-Air Force drops to 7-3 in the all-time series against Duke.
-The Falcons' 11 goals are the second most goals put up on the Blue Devils in the all-time series.
-AF will take a weekend off before playing the non-conference finale against Marquette in Chicago.
-Driggs is the fourth all-time Falcon to put up four goals or more at Duke (Nick Hruby, 4g, 2017; Quincy Peene 4g, 2020; Brandon Dodd, 4g, 2020)

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
Air Force's Ryan Stadelmaier put Duke on notice in the first quarter, scoring the first goal of the game assisted by Mana Wilhelm at 12:32. Going tit-for-tat, the Blue Devils responded at 10:05 only to be met with another AF goal from the Wilhelm-Stadelmaier connection. It was the last Falcon lead of the game. Duke scored twice from 5:49 to 2:00 via Chris Cusolito and Graham Blake. Stadelmaier got the final say of the quarter with his hat trick goal at 1:05.

Second Quarter
Duke put up its largest scoring margin in the second quarter, outscoring AF five goals to two. AF's Josh Yago was to-to man in the quarter, scoring both AF goals at 11:09 and 5:46. The first goal was unassisted while senior teammate Alexander Stepney helped with the second. The Falcons tied the Blue Devils twice in the quarter but ended up heading to the halftime locker room trailing, 8-5.

Third Quarter
Caelan Driggs began his scoring tear early in the third quarter, scoring two straight unassisted goals at 14:02 and 11:09 to bring within one goal of tying. Duke shut down the rally at the faceoff dot, winning 6-7 attempts in the quarter. The Blue Devils put up four unanswered goals from 10:34 to 7:07. Duke led Air Force 12-7 heading into the final 15 minutes.

Fourth Quarter
Driggs opened another quarter with two goals for the Falcons, this time at 13:39 and 7:44, with a goal in between by Duke's Liam Kershis (10:44). Malever responded at 6:40 with his fifth goal of the game. Luke Vrsansky and Josh Yago rounded out Air Force scoring at 5:49 and 2:20, with Driggs providing the help to Vrsansky.

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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