DURHAM, N.C. – Nick Hruby registered four goals for a hat trick performance in the Falcons’ 11-10 upset win over perennial powerhouse, No. 10 Duke, Sunday afternoon, at Koskinen Field, Durham, N.C. The win over Duke marks the Falcons’ second one-point win in Durham in two straight seasons. Before last season’s win, the last time Air Force beat Duke was in 1975. 

Duke’s Mitch Russell landed the first strike with a goal four minutes into the first period. Junior Nick Hruby responded by finding the back of the net with 47 seconds remaining in the first period. Hruby continued to apply pressure on the Duke goalkeeper, logging his second goal on the Blue Devil defense, 13 minutes into the second period.  Joey Manown responded with his first goal a minute later.

The Falcons continued the battle, rattling off three consecutive goals in three minutes. Hruby registered a hat trick with his third goal with nine minutes remaining in the half, followed by Walsch’s first goal of the season and rounded off by Grant Gould’s first goal with six minutes remaining.

Undeterred by the explosive Falcon offense, Duke responded by rattling off three goals of their own in a late second period rally.  Kevin Quigley ignited the streak with his first goal, followed up by Manown’s second and Sean Cerrone’s first for the tying goal at five. With 48 seconds remaining in the first half, Duke’s Jack Bruckner launched the ball in for his first goal to take the lead going into the half. 

The shootout continued into the third period with Andrew Tien registering his first goal of the season two minutes into the second half. Duke returned fire with two straight goals to retake the lead, 8-6. In response, Sean LaVine fed Walsch for his second goal of the game followed up by Marcus Ward’s first goal of the season to knot the game at eight.

With the teams tied at eight at the beginning of the fourth period, Hruby continued his relentless attack, logging his fourth goal of the game.  Just over a minute later, Cameron Carter found Gould for his second goal of the game, extending the lead, 10-8. Tien added another one to the Falcons’ tally with his second goal with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation.

With the score at 11-8 in favor of Air Force, Duke’s Justin Guterding found the back of the net twice in rapid succession in an attempt to rally the Blue Devils.  Air Force held a one point lead over Duke with seven minutes remaining.  With a tying score in their reach, the Duke offense pressed a relentless attack on the Falcon defense. Freshman goalkeeper, Paxton Boyer along with a combined effort by the Air Force defense, fended off the Blue Devil attack to hold the high-powered offense to no points in the final seven minutes, finalizing the season opener at 11-10.

Hruby took four shots for four goals and perfect shooting percentage to lead the Air Force attack. Walsch led the Falcons with five shots; as a team, Air Force took 34 shots with 20 on goal. Walsch, Gould and Tien tallied two goals apiece. Boyer registered 14 saves in his debut performance in the Falcons’ cage. Carter led Air Force with two assists, while LaVine, Joe Matarazzo and Austin Smith added one apiece. 

The Falcons will continue action on the road in Denver, against Big East Conference Championship finalists, the Denver Pioneers, Saturday, Feb. 11, at 1:00 p.m. MT. Denver, who checked in at No. 3 in Inside Lacrosse’s national preseason coaches’ poll, will host Air Force in the 76th meeting between the programs.  A live stream of the game will be provided by PioVision as well as broadcast on the Altitude network.

Furman Falls at No. 17 Ohio State, 12-6

Columbus, Ohio – Behind a five-goal second period, No. 17 Ohio State downed Furman, 12-6, on Sunday afternoon inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. The win moves the Buckeyes to 1-0 on the season, while the loss drops the Paladins to 0-2 after a tough opening weekend.

The Paladins took an early 1-0 lead on a goal by William Holcomb with 13:16 remaining in the first period. Ohio State then used a 4-0 scoring run to push the lead to 4-1 until Lou Yovino netted his only goal of the day with 10:14 remaining in the second to cut the lead to 4-2. The Buckeyes continued to respond, scoring three goals over the next five minutes to take a 7-2 lead over the Paladins. Furman used a second goal by Holcomb with 1:32 to go in the second to cut the lead to 7-3 heading into the halftime lockerrooms.

Ohio State outscored the Paladins 3-1 in the third period, as Furman cut the Buckeyes' lead in half at 8-4 on a goal by Jonah Moore and assist from David Williamson. The Paladins again cut the Ohio State lead in half on a goal by Gu Pinsoneault to open the fourth, then after an Ohio State goal, Zach Scott found Stephen Wierzbicki for the Paladins' final score of the day. The Buckeyes tacked on one final score with 5:05 to go in the game to top the Paladins, 12-6.

Johnny Pearson led the Buckeyes with four goals, while Tre Leclaire added two. Austin Shanks and JT Blubaugh each added two points (1 goal, 1 assist), while Tom Carey played almost all 60 minutes in goal (59:32), making 11 saves.

Furman is back in action on Saturday, February 11, welcoming preseason No. 1 North Carolina to Paladin Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 12:00 p.m.