Air Force Academy

March 11, 2009

The Air Force lacrosse team opens up its conference slate this weekend, March 14, as it travels to Hamden, Conn., to take on Quinnipiac. The game is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. (ET).

Last Time Out...
The Air Force lacrosse team dropped a 14-9 contest to service-academy rival Army last weekend.

Sophomore Vinny Sandtorv was the Falcons' leading scorer against the Black Knights, tallying three goals in the contest, while senior long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo added two goals, his first of the season.

Scouting the Falcons...
Air Force enters this weekend with a 2-3 overall record and 0-0 mark in the Great Western Lacrosse League, coming off its loss to Army last week.

Sophomore Vinny Sandtorv is the Falcons' leading goal scorer with 11 tallies on the year, while senior captain Griffin Nevitt (6g, 5a) shares the team points lead with Sandtorv. Junior Ridge Flick (5g, 5a) is third on the team with 10 points and shares the team lead in assists with Nevitt. Meanwhile, the Falcons have played four keepers in goal this season, with freshman Matt Sanders posting a team-high 23 saves.

Scouting the Bobcats...
Quinnipiac enters this weekend with a 1-3 overall record. The Bobcats are on a three-game losing streak, dropping a 7-3 contest to 18th-ranked Brown last week.

Jack Oppenheimer leads the Bobcats' offense with 11 total points on the season (7g, 4a), while three others--Ted Dimond, Zach Dendas and Gary Messina--have tallied six points each. Goalkeeper Kevin Benzing has registered 40 saves through the first four games, including 17 in the loss to Brown.

The Coaches...
• Air Force is coached by Eric Seremet, in his first season as head coach. Seremet currently holds a career mark of 2-3.
• Quinnipiac is coached by Eric Fekete, in his eighth season at the helm of the Bobcats' program. Fekete currently holds a career ledger of 35-60 at Quinnipiac.

Air Force in the Statistical Rankings...
In the latest national rankings released by the NCAA (through games of March 8), Air Force ranks in the top 25 in two team statistical categories. The Falcons 23rd in the nation in scoring offense (9.8) and 25th in points per game (14.8).

In addition, the Falcons have a couple of players who are ranked among the top 50 nationally in various statistical categories. Midfielder Zack Carroll ranks 34th in the nation and fifth in the GWLL in face-off win percentage (.505), while Vinny Sandtorv ranks 45th in the country in goals per game with 2.2.

How They Rate...
Quinnipiac ranks in the top 25 nationally in two team statistical categories. The Bobcats rate 12th in man-down defense at 76 percent and are 21st in scoring defense (8.75).

Among the Bobcats' individual statistical leaders are Kevin Benzing, who ranks 19th nationally in goals against average (8.3) and 22nd in save percentage (.563); Ben Mullaney, who is 43rd in both face-off win percentage (.469) and ground balls per game (4.25); and Gary Messina, who is 47th in assists per game (1.25).

High-Scoring Defense...
Five games into the season, Air Force has already seen 14 points scored by its long poles. Sophomore defender Bryan Gilbreath, who tallied a pair of goals in 2008, already has five goals on the year, along with his first career assist. Senior long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo registered his first two goals of the season in the game versus Army, giving him five for his career, while also adding three assists on the year. In addition, fellow senior long-stick midfielder Jeff Pecora has assisted Gilbreath on a pair of goals, while also tallying his first career goal in the win over Sacred Heart.

Road Warriors...
With its second-consecutive true road contest coming up this weekend, Air Force is continuing its stretch of 10 straight games away from home to open the season. The Falcons played their first four contests at neutral sites (in Jacksonville, Fla., and Denver, Colo.), and will play in another neutral site game next week in Dallas, Texas. Air Force will then rattle off three straight true road games before finally opening the home slate on April 17--more than two months after the Falcons' first game of the season. Just two of Air Force's 13 regular-season contests are slated to be played at the Academy--the April 17 game versus conference foe Ohio State and the home finale versus Detroit on April 19.

Air Force is one of just two Division I men's lacrosse teams slated to play fewer than five home games during the season. The other is first-year program Detroit, which has just one home contest on its schedule.

The Falcons Score...
Air Force had a strong offensive showing in its win over Sacred Heart on March 1. The 15 goals were the most in a single game so far this season, and the highest scoring output for the Falcons since a 16-9 win over Quinnipiac in 2007.

In addition, Air Force's 10-goal margin of victory was its largest since 1997, when the Falcons posted a 24-3 win over Colorado College.

Just five games into the season, Air Force has tallied 49 goals, more than half of the entire scoring output in 2008 (81 goals).

Up Next...
The Falcons are back in a neutral site contest next weekend, March 21, when they head to Dallas, Texas, to face Bucknell in the Patriot Cup. The event, which is being held to support the Wounded Warrior Support, will take place at Ford Stadium on the campus of SMU. Notre Dame and Vermont will face off at noon (CT), followed by the Air Force-Bucknell game at 2:30 p.m.

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