Air Force Flies by Bellarmine, 18-6

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force is back in the win column following an 18-6 routing of Bellarmine in ASUN Conference action, Saturday afternoon, at Falcon Stadium. The win marks AF's third this season (3-7, 1-1 ASUN), while the Knights remain in the hunt for an ASUN win (6-7, 0-2 ASUN).

SIGNIFICANT STATS
-Three Falcons notched hat tricks in the offensive onslaught marking the third straight home game with three AF players scoring hat tricks.
-Junior attack man Caelan Driggs continued to make his case as one the NCAA's leading scorers, notching four goals for his third straight hat trick, eighth of the season. He has 34 goals.
-Senior team captain Josh Yago tracking toward a 50-point season, scoring four goals and three assists. He leads AF in points (45) and is one of the ASUN's top helpers with 22 assists this season.
-Junior attacker Ryan Stadelmaier put up three goals and two assists for a career-best five points. It was his second career hat trick.
-AF averages 17.5 goals per game when playing at USAFA.
-Nine Falcons accounted for the 16 goals against Bellarmine.
-Senior faceoff specialist Daniel Haimes was excellent at the center dot, winning a career best 13 faceoffs with a career high faceoff win percentage (.764).
-Cole Cunningham, the Falcons' leader in ground balls, picked up eight GBs for the second consecutive game.
-Senior goalie Jake Marek had a season-high save percentage (.667) in his third win. He made 12 saves on the game.
-The Air Force defense held the Knights scoreless for two quarters (1^st, 3^rd) and put a lid on the league's leading scorer, John Allie, who averages five goals per game. Allie finished with two, both in the fourth quarter.
-AF's 51 shots is a season-high mark.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
The game started off as a mix of defensive battle and miscues with the first goal being scored nine minutes into the game. Cole Rassas connected with Caelan Driggs at 5:56 to get the scoring going. The first quarter was all Air Force as Luke Vrsansky and Wes Peene scored the second and third goals with help from Driggs and Josh Yago, respectively.

Second Quarter
Bellarmine broke the seal at 12:41 in the second quarter behind Justin Westcoat's unassisted attack. Yago and Vrsansky responded with a pair of goals at 11:43 and 10:23 with Ryan Stadelmaier assisting Yago. Ezra Moore notched the Knights' second goal at the 9:56 mark. AF rattled off three straight goals from Yago, Driggs and Stadelmaier in response. Bellarmine closed the half on a high note as Moore scored his second goal with 43 seconds remaining in the half. AF headed to the locker room with an 8-3 lead.

Third Quarter
The 15 minutes out of the halftime break was all Air Force as the Falcons outscored the Knights, 5-0. Yago scored with help from Stadelmaier at 9:45. A mere 33 seconds later, Wes Peene tallied his second goal in an unassisted rush on the cage. Just 55 seconds later Mana Wilhelm fed Ryan Stadelmaier for his second goal. Driggs notched his hat trick goal at the 6:43 to give AF a 12-3 lead. With three seconds remaining in the quarter, Vrsansky fed Stadelmaier for his hat trick goal.

Fourth Quarter
With the bench making its way on to the field, Bellarmine's John Allie was able to break free and find the back of the net for the first time in the game. AF's leading point scorer Yago responded with a goal at 11:28 with help from Cole Rassas. Driggs scored his fourth goal two minutes later. Just 27 seconds out of the faceoff, Allie scored his second goal in an unassisted attack. The Falcons' Nick Walter, Matt Rubino and Well Flinn responded with successive goals. Alex Rismani and Yago assisted Walter and Rubino, respectively. Joe Allie, John's younger brother, closed out the scoring with a goal at 3:17 with help from Mikey Usterbowski.

COMING UP
Air Force hangs around the Academy as they welcome Queens University of Charlotte (Queens) for an ASUN Conference battle on Saturday, April 12. Action at Falcon Stadium is slated for noon MT. The Falcons are 2-0 against the Royals since the all-time series began two seasons ago.

Next Event

Team Stats

Caelan Driggs

Josh Yago

Ryan Stadelmaier

Luke Vrsansky

Players Mentioned

Cole Cunningham

Caelan Driggs

Daniel Haimes

Jake Marek

Wes Peene

Cole Rassas

Alex Rismani

Matt Rubino

Ryan Stadelmaier

Luke Vrsansky

Nick Walter

Mana Wilhelm

Josh Yago

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