Air Force Beats Army for First Time Ever
from press release
USAFA, Colo. - Sophomore Adam Paranka (Denver,
Colo.) scored his only goal of the game with 1:04 remaining in
overtime to give the Air Force lacrosse team an 8-7 victory over
service academy rival Army Saturday afternoon at Falcon Stadium.
With their first win of the season, the Falcons improve to 1-3
overall, while the Black Knights fall to 1-4 on the year.
Air Force's win over Army was its first-ever in the series, as the
Black Knights entered the game with a 16-0 record against the
Falcons. It was also the first time that Air Force has hosted Army
in men's lacrosse, with the previous 16 games between the two teams
held at West Point.
Army took the first lead of the game, scoring less than a minute
and a half into the contest before Air Force team captain Vinny
Sandtorv (Jr., Centereach, N.Y.) knotted the score at the 11:08
mark with an assist from Paranka. The contest quickly turned into a
defensive battle, with neither team scoring until a man-up goal by
Zack Carroll (Jr., Freehold Township, N.J.) with just under two
minutes to play in the opening period.
The Falcons increased their advantage to 3-1 with another man-up
goal, this time by Sandtorv, with 8:44 on the clock in the second
period. The defense continued to dominate the game, with neither
team scoring until Army's Garrett Thul tallied his first score of
the game just two seconds before the intermission.
Air Force went back up by two points with 12:15 on the clock in the
third period on an unassisted goal by Carroll, while senior captain
Ridge Flick (Plano, Texas) scored off the ensuing face-off with an
assist from John DeBonis (So., Sayville, N.Y.). A score by Sandtorv
with just over 10 minutes remaining in the period gave the Falcons
their biggest lead of the game with a 6-2 advantage.
However, the Black Knights came storming back, as Thul closed out
the period with three unanswered goals, cutting their deficit to a
single goal entering the final stanza. A score from Army's Jeremy
Boltus with 12:33 to play in the fourth period tied the score at
6-6.
After several minutes of back-and-forth action, the tie was broken
as the Black Knights' Devin Lynch scored his second goal of the
game with 3:19 to play, giving Army the 7-6 lead. It was a familiar
situation for the Falcons, who dropped a pair of one-goal games
last weekend after holding early leads.
This time, Air Force was able to come up with an answer. On the
Falcons' next possession, Flick picked up a loose ball after a save
by Army goalkeeper Tom Palesky and fired a shot into the back of
the net to tie the game at 7-7 with just under two and a half
minutes left on the clock.
Both goalkeepers came up with crucial stops in the final minutes,
including the Falcons' Brian Wilson, whose save in the waning
seconds of regulation sent the game into overtime.
Army took control on the opening face-off of the overtime period
and retained possession for the first two minutes. Another big save
by Wilson kept the Falcons' chances alive and a strong defensive
play by Sandtorv put the ball back in Air Force's hands. Palesky
countered with a stop of his own, but the Black Knights' failure to
clear gave the Falcons yet another opportunity to score. After a
wide shot by Sandtorv, Paranka got in position for the winning
shot, scoring his first goal of the game to give Air Force the 8-7
victory.
The Black Knights outshot the Falcons, 43-29, while scooping up 32
ground balls to Air Force's 25. However, Army went 0-for-2 on
man-up opportunities, while Air Force was 2-of-5 on the EMO. Both
teams received solid play from their goalkeepers, with Wilson and
Palesky each recording 11 saves in the contest.
Sandtorv registered a season-high three goals in the contest, while
Carroll registered two goals and an assist. Meanwhile, in addition
to his game-winning score, Paranka notched a career-best two
assists.
