Air Force Falls To #18 Navy, 14-13, In Battle For Freedom Vase

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Navy	3	3	4	4	14
Air Force	4	3	3	3	13

Navy

Air Force

USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force men's water polo dropped a 14-13 contest to #18 Navy (8-1) in front of a full crowd in its home-opener Thursday night at the Cadet Natatorium. The loss snapped a seven-game wins streak, dropping the Falcons to 11-4 on the season.

Navy retains the Freedom Vase for the fourth straight meeting with the win.

In a tight game throughout, Air Force was stymied by the Navy defense in the second half, as a big scoring drought was costly.

With the score tied at 8-8, the Falcons took a 9-8 lead at the 2:11 mark in in the third quarter. The Falcons then went ice cold on offense, going almost 10 minutes with just one goal. Navy went on a 4-1 run during that 10 minute period to lead 13-10 with 1:38 to play.

The Falcons mounted a furious late-game charge, with three goals in the last 91 seconds of play. But Navy was able to hold off the late Falcon rally for the win.

The loss spoiled a standout night in goal by Wyatt Sturgeon. The freshman notched 15 saves on the night, including a stop on a penalty. Seniors Jack Richards led the Falcons with five points on four goals and an assist. Seniors Tom Leggett and Jonah Vander Veen added four points each. Leggett scored three goals and one assist, while Vander Veen had three assists and a goal.

Junior Brady Kopperud added three points on a goal and two assists. Sophomore Max Ellis scored two goals and freshman Sam Storrs had a goal and assist.

Navy was led by Kiefer Black, who had six points on three goals and three assists. Ryan Much had seven saves in goal for the win.

Air Force returns to action Saturday, taking on Biola and #14 UC Santa Barbara as the host school of the Rare Air Challenge.

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.