Air Force Academy

Sept. 9, 2006

USAFA, Colo. - The 18th-ranked Air Force water polo team lost a pair of contests to service-academy rival Navy, ranked 12th in the nation. In the first contest of the morning, the Falcons fell, 15-10, followed by an 11-7 loss in the second game of the day. With the defeats, Air Force falls to 4-3 on the season, while Navy improves to 6-1.

After nearly three scoreless minutes to open the first game, the Mids went on a 4-0 run to jump ahead. With 31 seconds remaining in the opening period, junior Clark Condict (Irvine, Calif.) was able to put the Falcons on the board off the assist from Tyler Hewko (So., Laguna Hills, Calif.). Although another Condict score to start the second period brought Air Force within two, Navy rattled off two more goals to go up 6-2.

Back-to-back scores by Joey Brewer (So., Clovis, Calif.) and Matt LeBlanc (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) cut the margin to two points once more, but a 6-on-4 opportunity for the Mids with just 12 seconds on the clock gave Navy the 7-4 lead at the half.

It didn't take long for the Mids to get going in the third period, as the team rattled off five unanswered goals, including three by sophomore Mike Mulvey. Although the Falcons managed two more scores in the period, Navy took a 13-6 lead going into the final quarter.

Air Force attempted to get back into the contest, scoring the first three goals of the period to cut the deficit to 13-9. After an apparent goal that would have brought the Falcons within three points was waved off, the Mids came back down on the other end for their next score to increase their lead to 14-9. Brewer sent in his third goal of the game with just over two minutes to play, but it would be the last score for the Falcons. Meanwhile, Navy added yet another goal to account for the final 15-10 tally.

Navy started out hot in the second game, rolling to a 7-1 lead by the end of the first period. The Air Force defense was able to finally slow down the Mids' offense, allowing just two goals over the next two quarters, but the Falcons could only come up with two goals of their own.

Again, Air Force got things going in the final period, starting off with a man-up goal by Hewko in the first minute to cut the margin back to 9-4. The teams continued to trade goals over the next two minutes, capped off by a score from Condict with just over four minutes to play. While Navy had plenty of opportunities to extend its lead, the Falcons came up with several big stops to try to swing the momentum in their direction. Still, Air Force could not generate enough offense, getting its last goal on a five-meter attempt by Hewko to bring the final score to 11-7.

Berry scored each of the Falcons' first three goals in the contest, Hewko added two goals and Condict and Kimmich chipped in the final scores. For the Mids, Bram Arnold led the team with three goals.

The Falcons are back in action tomorrow, when they host fourth-ranked Stanford at 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Navy will take on Stanford earlier in the day, with a contest scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.

#12 Navy 15, #18 Air Force 10
Air Force  1  3  2  4  10
Navy       4  3  6  2  15

AF Scoring: Brewer 3, Condict 3, Churnside 2, LeBlanc, Kimmich
Navy Scoring: Recko 3, Mulvey 3, Carlson 2, Arnold 2, Plumb 2, Meiners, Hill, Baker

#12 Navy 11, #18 Air Force 7
Air Force   1  1  1  4  7
Navy        7  1  1  2  11

AF Scoring: Berry 3, Hewko 2, Kimmich, Condict
Navy Scoring: Arnold 3, Recko 2, Mulvey 2,  Plumb 2, Baker, MacKenzie