Late Air Force Rally Falls Just Short In 15-14 Setback at Navy

Air Force men's water polo (11-4) dropped a tough 15-14 match in a battle for the Freedom Vase at Navy (9-6) Thursday night at Lejeune Hall on the U.S. Naval Academy campus in Annapolis, Md.

The Falcons battled back from a five-goal deficit to tie the game up two separate times in the fourth quarter. Tied 13-13, Navy out-scored Air Force 2-1 to close out the game.

Junior Tom Leggett led the Falcons with five goals on the night, with classmate Jack Richard netting a hat trick with three goals. Senior Colin Chase and junior Owen Imasaki added two goals each.

Navy took control of the game early, jumping out to a 4-2 lead after the first quarter of play and 9-4 at the half. After the Falcons had pulled to within one at 5-4, the Midshipmen reeled off five straight goals to lead 10-5 early in the third.

The Falcons out-scored Navy 6-2 the rest of the third quarter to pull to within two at 12-10 after three quarters. The Falcons tied the game at 12-12 and 13-13 with 5:39 to play. Navy would go ahead with back-to-back goals to lead by two.

Richards scored with 53 seconds remaining to pull the Falcons to one goal again. Air Force would not be able to get the ball back the rest of the game.

The Falcons have a day off to regroup before getting back to play at the Bucknell Invitational this Saturday-Sunday in Lewisburg, Pa. The Falcons take on LIU and Bucknell on Saturday and Gannon on Sunday.

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