USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Air Force outscored Canisius, 15-11, in the 2020 Falcon Stadium opener, Sunday afternoon. Air Force, who put up a season-high 25 points on the Golden Griffins, improves to 4-3 on the season, while Canisius remains winless (0-5).
The Falcons were led by freshman standout Brandon Dodd, who tied a career high with eight points on four goals and four assists, repeating his performance from the season opener at Duke. The 6-3 attackman out of Logan, Utah, has dished an assist out in every game this season and averages 2.3 assists per game and 3.9 points per game.
Senior co-team captain Trey Lervick also put on a show for the home crowd, tallying two goals and two assists on the day. Lervick leads the Falcons with 12 goals so far this year. Senior teammate Jake Thornally matched Lervick with a pair of goals and also added an assist to his stat line. Lervick and Thornally have scored goals in six of seven games this season. Freshman hot-hand Ethan Grandolfo notched two goals on six shots on frame. Dodd, Lervick and Grandolfo led the squad with six shots apiece.
Other Falcons to net a goal were August Johnson, Quincy Peene, Brenden Crouse, Christian Marshall and Chandler Coons. As a team, Air Force dished out a season-high 10 assists with help from Matthew O'Rourk, Gianni Orlando and Chet Dunstan.
Quentin Carlile and Doc Szlachetka anchored the Air Force defense with three and two caused turnovers, respectively. Szlachetka picked up a career-best eight ground balls, while Carlile picked up seven.
Senior faceoff man Ryan Lynch saw success at the midfield dot, winning 16-of-22 attempts taken (.723). Lynch also picked up a game-high and career-best nine ground balls. Freshman faceoff specialist Dylan Frankhouser was given some reps at the dot, winning an impressive 4-of-5 attempts on the day. The faceoff unit won 21-of-30 attempts on the game (.700).
Junior goalie Braden Host earned his fourth victory in goal for Air Force, making five saves in 54 minutes logged in the frame. Host also picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover in the second half. Host now has a .541 save-percentage on the 2020 campaign.
As a team, Air Force held the advantage over Canisius in shots (38-27), shots on goal (26-16) and ground balls (39-27). Both teams tallied 12 successful clears in 14 attempts each.
The Golden Griffs were led by Mathieu Boissonneault's four goals and an assist. Jacob Buck was the Griffs' key scoring facilitator with four assists and a pair of goals.
Next up, Air Force opens the Southern Conference schedule hosting Furman on Saturday, March 14, at Falcon Stadium. The Falcons and Paladins are slated to faceoff at 11 a.m. MT. Air Force is on a two-game winning streak against the Paladins, outscoring them 22-10 in the last two games combined.