Air Force Academy

April 18, 2007

The Air Force lacrosse team wraps up its home slate this weekend, April 20, when it hosts Ohio State in a league contest. The game is slated to begin at 4:00 p.m.

Scouting the Falcons...
With a pair of road conference losses last week, Air Force dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-2 in the GWLL.

Sophomore Griffin Nevitt, who tallied four goals against Bellarmine, leads Air Force with 28 points (16g, 12a), while senior captain Will Meister ranks second on the team with 25 points (10g, 15a). Seniors Justin Kuchta (16g, 4a) and Conrad Lochocki (12g, 8a) have both notched 20 points on the season.

Scouting the Buckeyes... Ohio State enters this weekend with a 6-4 overall record and 2-0 mark in the GWLL 6-3. The Buckeyes are coming off a 13-9 road win over Bellarmine.

Joel Dalgarno is Ohio State's leading scorer with 39 points (22g, 17a) on the season, while Kevin Buchanan is second with 36 points (16g, 20a).

Ohio State is coached by Joe Breschi (North Carolina, `90), who has compiled a mark of 78-56 in his 10th season at the helm of the program.

In the Series...
This weekend, Air Force and Ohio State will meet for the 22nd time in the series, with the Buckeyes leading, 12-9. Ohio State has won nine in a row against the Falcons, with the last Air Force win coming in 1997.

Falcons in the National Rankings...
In the latest national rankings through games of April 15, Air Force is rated 22nd in man-up offense (.308).

In addition, a pair of Air Force players is rated in the individual rankings. Senior Will Meister is currently 15th in the nation in assists per game (1.67), while sophomore Griffin Nevitt is ranked 30th in points per game (3.11).

In the GWLL rankings, Meister ranks third in assists per game, while Nevitt ranks fifth in points per game. Bellissimo is fifth in goals against average (10.47). Finally, Reilly Smith (.466) and Kyle O'Neill (.422) rank fifth and eighth, respectively, in face-off win percentage.

How They Rate...
Ohio State ranks in the top-20 nationally in man-up defense (2nd, .854), scoring offense (6th, 11.5), scoring margin (8th, +4.0), scoring defense (12th, 7.5) and face-off win percentage (14th, .577). In addition, Kevin Buchanan ranks ninth in assists per game (1.9) and 21st in points per game (3.4), Joel Dalgarno is 11th in points per game (3.8) and 13th in assists per game (1.7) and Jeff Ryan is 22nd in goals per game (2.2). Meanwhile, midfielder Eric O'Brien ranks 15th in face-off win percentage (.593).

In the GWLL rankings, Dalgarno leads the league in points per game, is second in assists per game and fourth in points per game. Buchanan leads the league in assists per game, while Ryan ranks third in goals per game. O'Brien is second in both ground balls per game (5.10) and face-off win percentage, while goalkeeper Stefan Schroeder is second in goals against average (8.16), third in save percentage (.555) and fifth in saves per game.

Saying Goodbye to the Seniors...
This week's game against Ohio State marks the final home contest for Air Force's nine seniors--Dan Bellissimo, Dan Breiding, Justin Kuchta, Conrad Lochocki, Will Meister, Kyle O'Neill, Ryan Stillwell, Michael Weber and Kevin Winslow. There will be a special senior presentation prior to the start of Friday's game.

Air Force At Home...
Air Force's home game this weekend is a rare occurrence for the Falcons this season, who have just two home games on their schedule. In comparison, Air Force played eight of its 15 games at home last season, winning six.

A Scoring Streak...
Senior Will Meister and sophomore Griffin Nevitt are both in the midst of a 22-game streak with at least one point. The streak began on March 4, 2006, in a loss to UMBC. Meister has now tallied at least one goal or assist in 45 of his 49 career games, including 37 of the past 38. Meanwhile, Nevitt has scored in all but one of his 25 career games. Neither Meister nor Nevitt was able to get a point in the Falcons' 5-4 loss to Manhattan last season.

The Assist Leader...
Senior Will Meister currently sits in seventh place on the Falcons' career assist list, with 79 assists. Meister sits just five assists out of sixth place, and could move into the top five by season's end.

In addition, Meister ranks tied for second among the nation's active career assist leaders. Only Duke's Matt Danowski has more career assists

Up Next...
The Falcons conclude their 2007 GWLL slate next week at Denver. The game, slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., will be televised live by FSN Rocky Mountain.

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