Air Force Academy

April 21, 2008

In the first of two conference home games to wrap up the regular season, the Air Force lacrosse team hosts seventh-ranked Notre Dame Tuesday, April 22. The game is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium.

Scouting the Falcons...
Air Force (3-7, 1-2) dropped a 10-2 contest to non-conference foe Yale on Sunday. Scoring the lone goals for Air Force against the Bulldogs were sophomore Ridge Flick and junior Colin Lockhart, while senior Reilly Smith won 9-of-15 face-offs for the Falcons.

Junior Griffin Nevitt is the Falcons' leading scorer on the year with 16 goals and six assists on the season, while senior David Rose is second on the team with 15 goals and five assists.

Scouting the Fighting Irish...
Notre Dame (9-2, 2-1), currently ranked seventh in the USILA coaches poll and 12th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll, is coming off a 14-7 victory over Lehigh. Junior Ryan Hoff notched four goals to lead the Irish against the Mountain Hawks.

Alex Wharton (14g, 22a) leads the Notre Dame offense with 36 points, while Hoff ranks second on the team with 33 points (30g, 3a). Meanwhile, three-time all-conference goalkeeper Joey Kemp holds a 6.62 GAA and averages 10.5 saves per contest.

The Coaches...
• Air Force is coached by Fred Acee, in his 11th season with the Falcons. Acee holds a 350-221-1 career record (41st year) and a 38-102 mark at the Academy.
• Notre Dame is coached by Kevin Corrigan, in his 20th season leading the Fighting Irish. Corrigan holds a career record of 186-109 (22nd year) and a 176-94 mark at Notre Dame.

Series Records...
This weekend marks the 21st meeting all-time between Air Force and Notre Dame, with the Irish holding an 18-2 advantage. The Falcons won the last contest played at the Academy, upsetting ninth-ranked Notre Dame, 9-8, in 2006.

Meanwhile, junior Dan Gnazzo ranks second in the GWLL and 12th in the nation in ground balls per game (5.22).

How They Rate...
In the national rankings through games of April 13, Notre Dame ranks first in the nation in face-off win percentage (.640), fourth in scoring margin (+5.11), sixth in scoring offense (12.22), eighth in scoring defense (7.11) and 15th in man-up offense .372). The Fighting Irish lead the GWLL in face-off win percentage and scoring defense, and rank second in the other three categories.

Individually, Ryan Hoff and Alex Wharton are ranked 11th nationally in goals per game (2.44) and assists per game (1.89), respectively. Goalkeeper Joey Kemp is second in the country in save percentage (.633) and seventh in goals against average (6.75), while Taylor Clagett ranks fourth in the country in face-off win percentage (.632).

They're Scoring At Home...
The Falcons will look for an offensive boost this week, with its final two games being played at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium. The scoring differential between home and away/neutral contests is pronounced for Air Force. In four home contests, the Falcons have averaged 10.5 goals per game. Meanwhile, in its six games away from home, Air Force has scored just 5.33 goals per game.

On the Penalty Kill...
Air Force has been impressive on the penalty kill in its past two contests, holding both Quinnipiac and Yale scoreless on the EMO. The Falcons' man-down defense percentage, which sat at .641 prior to those two games, has improved to .689.

Just One Assist...
In contrast to the past several seasons, when former Falcon Will Meister ranked among the nation's leaders in assists per game, no Falcon is averaging more than one assist per contest this season. In fact, through 10 games of the season, no Air Force player has scored more than one assist in a game. Even assist-leader Griffin Nevitt has scored each of his six assists in six different contests.

Taking the Face-off...
In its last three games, Air Force has won over 56 percent of its face-offs, while winning just over 35 percent of its face-offs in its first seven contests. Senior Reilly Smith has led the way for the Falcons, winning 60 percent (36-of-60) of his face-offs in the last three games, including 9-of-15 versus Yale, which entered the contest ranked second in the nation in face-off win percentage.

Smith won 13-of-22 face-offs (.590) in the Falcons' win over Bellarmine, setting a new personal-best mark, and bested that in the Quinnipiac game, winning 14-of-23 face-offs (.609). As a team, Air Force won a season-high 13-of-23 face-offs (.565) versus Bellarmine, going up against one of the top face-off specialists in the conference, Bobby Snider.

Up Next...
The Falcons wrap up the regular season Saturday, April 26, as they host 18th-ranked Denver in a GWLL contest. Prior to the game, which is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium, the Falcons will honor the 10 members of the 2008 senior class.

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