Falcons Upend No. 18 Utah in Overtime, Soaring to Third Straight ASUN Regular Season Title

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Final F
Air Force	3	3	2	5	1	14
Utah	5	2	2	4	0	13

Air Force

Utah

SALT LAKE CITY – Air Force battled to a gritty 14-13 overtime win against ASUN rival and league front-runner No. 18 Utah, Saturday afternoon at Ute Field. The Falcons, securing their third straight regular season co-championship, are on a four-game winning streak as they improve to 6-7 heading into the conference playoffs.

The matchup marked the 10^th meeting between the teams since Utah joined Division I lacrosse— the last five games have been decided by a one goal differential. For the eighth time in 10 all-time contests, the victor was decided by one goal.

Air Force's all-time leading goal scorer Caelan Driggs was the man of the day, scoring six goals including the final tying goal in regulation and the overtime game-winning goal. He attempted a season-high 14 shots on the game, nine of which were on goal. The performance marked Driggs' seventh hat-trick-plus game this season. He averaged 4.2 goals per game in conference action.

Junior defenseman Charlie Pyfer and senior LSM Cole Cunningham were instrumental in the ground ball battle, picking up 19 balls between the two of them; 10 and nine for personal season-bests, respectively. The Falcons collectively picked up a season-high 40 ground balls. Cunningham led the defense with three caused turnovers. Both defenders scored goals; Pyfer notched one in each half while Cunningham scored in the second quarter.

Other goal scorers included seniors Ryan Stadelamier (1g, 1a) and Cole Rassas (1g), alongside underclassmen Lee Krotee (1g), Tyler Smart (1g), and Ben Heidt (1g).

Sophomore face off man Rogan Kane had a career day, winning a personal best 17 face offs in 29 attempts (.586) and picking up career best seven ground balls. Senior keeper Nolan Parlette improved to 3-0 in goal for the Falcons making eight saves including a huge save on an overtime shot on goal from Ryan Stines.

Utah was led by Stines and the league's top scorer Luke McNamara with three and five goals, respectively. Stines rounded out his stat line with three assists to his credit.

The Utes will get another shot to take on the returning champion Falcons in the ASUN Tournament semifinals in Jacksonville, next Friday (May 1). The hosting Dolphins took the top seed via tie criteria and will play fourth seeded Mercer at 3 pm ET. The third seeded Falcons and second seeded Utes will play second at 6 pm ET at Rock Stadium.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.