April 22, 2008

Box Score

USAFA, Colo. - Outscored 7-0 to open the game, the Air Force lacrosse team fell to seventh-ranked Notre Dame, 13-5, Tuesday afternoon at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 3-8 on the season, 1-3 in the GWLL, while the Fighting Irish improve to 10-2 overall, 3-1 in the league.

Notre Dame opened the scoring at the 11:46 mark in the first period, notching four goals within a span of two and a half minutes. Another score by the Irish with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter gave Notre Dame the early 5-0 lead. Air Force's deficit grew to seven following two more Notre Dame goals in the second period.

The Falcons finally got on the board with 5:27 remaining in the first half when long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) caused a Notre Dame turnover and responded with an unassisted goal. A minute and a half later, Colin Lockhart (Jr., Richmond, Va.) took an assist from K.J. Landgraf (Jr., Cordova, Md.) to cut the margin back down to five.

Unfortunately for Air Force, the Irish put together another scoring run to take a 13-2 advantage, tallying two goals to end the second period, outscoring Air Force 2-0 in the third period and notching the first two goals of the fourth quarter. The Falcons stopped the run with a score from Chris Tubesing (Sr., Centreville, Va.), assisted by Gnazzo, while senior David Rose (Allentown, Pa.) scored a man-up goal with 3:09 remaining. It appeared that 13-4 would be the final margin, until junior Griffin Nevitt (Charlotte, N.C.) sent a shot past the Notre Dame goalkeeper just as the horn sounded.

For the fourth-straight game, Air Force held the advantage on face-offs, winning 11-of-21, led by senior Reilly Smith (Scaggsville, Md.) who won all 11 face-offs for the Falcons. However, the Falcons' man-up offense struggled, scoring on just 1-of-4 opportunities, while the Irish were 3-of-4 on the EMO.

Ten different players scored for the Fighting Irish, including Alex Wharton, Neal Hicks and Ryan Hoff with two goals each. Meanwhile, starting goalkeeper Joey Kemp tallied nine saves with just two goals against in over 50 minutes of action.

Air Force closes out the regular season this Saturday, April 26, when it hosts 18th-ranked Denver in a GWLL contest. Ten seniors will be honored prior to the game, which is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium.

No. 7 Notre Dame 13, Air Force 5
Notre Dame Scoring:
Goals: Alex Wharton 2, Neal Hicks 2, Ryan Hoff 2, Kelly McKenna, Dan Gibson, Grant Krebs, Michael Podgajny, Zach Brenneman, Peter Christman, Billy Maloney. Assists: Peter Christman 2, Zach Brenneman, Alex Wharton, David Earl, Duncan Swezey, Ryan Hoff, Neal Hicks.
Air Force Scoring:
Goals: Dan Gnazzo, Colin Lockhart, Chris Tubesing, David Rose, Griffin Nevitt. Assists: K.J. Landgraf, Dan Gnazzo.