Air Force Falls Short at Marquette
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – A fourth period rally by Marquette lifted the Golden Eagles to a 7-6 win in non-conference action, Tuesday afternoon at the Valley Fields, Milwaukee, Wis. Air Force, who is now 6-4 on the season, allowed the Golden Eagles three unanswered goals in the fourth period to seal the deal on a late comeback. Nick Hruby notched his fourth hat trick of the season in the offensive effort.
Box Score
Austin Smith was the first to add a goal to the scoresheet with an unassisted goal at the 6:19 mark. The goal marks Smith’s fourth of the season. In the latter half of the first period, the Falcons were charged with two separate penalties, sidelining Brandon Jones and Christian Pung, while allowing Marquette a two-man-up situation where they capitalized for a goal.
In the second period the Falcons and Golden Eagles added two goals apiece. Hruby logged his first goal from Harper’s assists coming off the face-off. Grant Gould followed up with an unassisted goal just under two minutes later. Ryan McNamara and Any Demichiei notched Marquette’s second-period goals. Hruby’s active goal-streak remains intact as he extends to 23-straight games with a goal.
The teams were knotted at three at the halftime whistle. Harper won five-of-eight face-offs, while Marquette outshot Air Force, 19-7, and picked up more ground balls, 13-7.
Marquette was the first to strike in the third period with McNamara’s second goal from John Wagner’s assist. Gould responded with his second goal from Chris Walsch’s feed at the 8:43 mark. Gould’s goal marked his 12th of the season; third most on the team. Hruby rattled off two-consecutive goals for his fourth hat trick this year to give Air Force their largest lead of the game, 6-4. Walsch extended the life of his point-streak to 34-straight games following the assist to Gould.
The Golden Eagles owned the fourth period, capitalizing on two man-up opportunities with two goals to tie the game at six. With 4:35 remaining in the game McNamara registered his hat trick goal to lift the Golden Eagles to a one-point advantage. The Falcons were unable to net a goal with two missed man-up opportunities in the fourth quarter. Marquette extended to a 5-2 overall record with the win.
Hruby took four shots on the game, all of which were on frame for a .750 shooting-percentage on the day. Gould led the team with five shots. Air Force caused five turnovers, led by Jones and Sean LaVine with two apiece. Jones also led the Falcons with five scooped up ground balls. In his debut start in the Falcons' cage, Mitch Rose logged seven saves; he is now 1-1 this season. Marquette outshot Air Force, 30-19, picked up twice as many ground balls, 22-11, and went three-for-four in man-up opportunities, while the Falcons went one-for-four. The Falcons tallied 16 turnovers to Marquette’s ten.
This Saturday, April 1, Air Force returns home to take on Bellarmine in Southern Conference action at Falcon Stadium, at 7:00 p.m. MT, in the Falcons’ first and only night game of the season. Live stats and broadcasts will be available for the game.
Fast Start Not Enough in Loss to The Mount
LEXINGTON, Va. – Despite grabbing a 3-2 lead at the end of the opening period, the VMI lacrosse team was outscored 12-5 the rest of the way as visiting Mount St. Mary's pulled away for a 14-8 victory Tuesday afternoon at Drill Field No. 2.
Box Score // Highlights
VMI (1-7, 0-3) senior Brad Nardella recorded his third hat trick of the year and junior Wesley Sanders earned his first of the season to lead the VMI attack, but a scoreless second quarter and 5-2 score disadvantage in the final period proved too much for the Keydets to overcome.
Sanders has now registered four career games with at least three goals scored and runs his personal streak to 22 consecutive games with at least one goal or assist earned. Freshman John Daniel logged the other two scores for VMI during the game.
The game was evenly matched in several categories with the Mount (3-5, 1-1) tallying 42 shots to VMI's 41, 13 faceoff wins to VMI's 12, 10 saves to VMI's 11 and 18 successful clears to VMI's 15. The Keydets won the groundball battle, 38-25, and held the Mount scoreless on their one extra-man opportunity, but were hurt by 19 turnovers in the game.
"We continue to play a good 40 minutes of Division 1 lacrosse but the other 20 minutes that are filled with turnovers and breakdowns are too costly at this level," said VMI head coach Jon Birsner. "We left a lot of goals on the field today. To take 41 shots is good but eight goals is not. I was happy with our stops that led to transition opportunities but we didn't execute on enough of them. We need to stretch the field and finish our breaks better.
"I'm proud of the way we competed at faceoffs. We've been struggling there all year but AJ Krstulovic and Tristan Capes-Davis worked hard and battled well today. We're hoping to continue to build on that and give them better wing play."
The Mount's Chris DiPretoro led the way with his own hat trick while Bubba Johnson and Jack Mangan both recorded two scores. Seven other Mount players logged solo goals throughout the match.
VMI keeper Joe Riccadonna picked up the loss despite 11 saves while St. Mary's goalie Matt Vierheller takes the win with 10 saves.
The Keydets continue their step out of conference play by traveling to Hampton for a Saturday matchup at 2 p.m. in Hampton, Virginia. The game was originally slated for a noon start but was moved to two hours later as announced Monday.