Air Force Beats Denver for First Time Since '02
from press release
DENVER - Playing on the road for the final game
of the regular season, the Air Force lacrosse team registered a
10-7 conference victory over Denver Saturday evening at Barton
Lacrosse Stadium. With the win, the Falcons finish the regular
season with a 7-6 overall mark and a 4-1 ledger in the GWLL.
The victory gave Air Force its best-ever GWLL record, while also
guaranteeing the Falcons finish at least .500 for the season for
the Falcons for the first time since 1997. Air Force’s win
over Denver was also its first over the Pioneers since 2002,
snapping a six-game losing streak against the in-state rival.
The game started out slowly offensively, with more than six minutes
going by in the opening quarter before Denver got on the board with
a goal from freshman Mark Matthews. The Falcons responded two
minutes later, as senior K.J. Landgraf (Cordova, Md.) found the
back of the net with an assist from Eric Evans (Sr., Ellicott City,
Md.). The first career goal for Denver defenseman Austin Konkel put
the Pioneers back on top with 3:34 remaining in the first period,
before Landgraf tied the game back up with his second goal of the
day.
The score remained knotted at 2-2 nearly 10 minutes into the second
period before an unassisted tally by Evans gave Air Force its first
advantage of the game. The Falcons closed out the half with two
more unanswered goals, with Ridge Flick (Jr., Plano, Texas) setting
up Colin Lockhart (Sr., Richmond, Va.) and Landgraf to give Air
Force a 5-2 lead at the half.
Air Force continued its scoring spurt in the third period, with
Flick feeding Denver native Adam Paranka for his first goal of the
game. Sophomore defenseman Bryan Gilbreath (Bainbridge Island,
Wash.) followed up with his own goal to extend the Falcons’
advantage to 7-2 with 12:37 left in the quarter. Denver’s
Joey Murray stopped the Air Force run with his own score less than
a minute later, but Gilbreath took an assist from long-stick
midfielder Dan Gnazzo (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) off the ensuing
face-off. Nearly 10 more minutes went by before Flick scored his
own goal, this time off an assist by Evans, to give Air Force a 9-3
lead, its largest goal of the game.
Denver began to fight back in the final period, scoring the first
three goals of the quarter, to cut their deficict to 9-6 with 4:16
remaining in the contest. Freshman John DeBonis (Sayville, N.Y.)
tallied his first career goal with 3:32 remaining to put Air Force
back up by four while Matthews closed out the scoring for Denver
with a man-up goal less than a minute later.
Flick finished the contest with a career-high-matching five points
on one goal and a career-best four assists. Meanwhile, Landgraf
(three goals) and Evans (one goal, two assists) added three points
each.
Next weekend, the Falcons head to the Great Western Lacrosse League
Tournament, being held in Birmingham, Mich. The Falcons, the second
seed in the tournament will take on third-seed Ohio State at 7:30
p.m. (ET) on May 1. Meanwhile, top-seed Notre Dame will face
fourth-seed Quinnipiac in the first game of the tournament.
Air Force 10, Denver 7
Air Force 2 3 4 1 10
Denver 2 0 1 4 7
AF Scoring: Goals: K.J. Landgraf 3, Bryan Gilbreath 2, Eric Evans,
Colin Lockhart, Adam Paranka, Ridge Flick, John DeBonis. Assists:
Ridge Flick 4, Eric Evans 2, Dan Gnazzo.
DU Scoring: Goals: Mark Matthews 3, Austin Konkel, Joey Murray,
John Dicksenson, Charley Dickenson. Assists: Cory Schaeffler, Mark
Matthews, Todd Baxter, Cliff Smith.
