Air Force Academy

Nov. 5, 2011

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Cruz Smithson (Capistrano Beach, Calif.) tallied a game-high five goals to lead the Air Force water polo team to a 9-5 win over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday evening.

With the victory, the Falcons improve to 8-15 overall and 5-7 in the Western Water Polo Association. Meanwhile, the Sagehens drop to 10-18 overall and 5-6 in the WWPA.

Brad Rajchel (Jr., Winter Park, Fla.) opened up the scoring for Air Force in the first period, while a score from Smithson and a five-meter goal from freshman Jantz Johnson (Murrieta, Calif.) gave the Falcons a 3-0 advantage at the 3:28 mark in the opening quarter. While the Sagehens responded with a 6-on-5 goal to get on the scoreboard, Smithson closed out the period with his second score of the game.

Pomona-Pitzer scored two of the next three goals to cut the margin to 5-3 at the half, while the Falcons outscored the Sagehens in the third period to take a 7-4 lead into the final stanza. Smithson tallied his fourth score of the game 22 seconds into the fourth quarter, pushing Air Force's lead back to four goals. Pomona-Pitzer's Jason Cox responded with his third goal of the contest, but the Sagehens did not score again. Meanwhile, Smithson notched the final goal of the contest, getting on the board with 1:02 left to play.

Smithson tallied an assist and three steals to go with his five goals, while Dillon Fisher (Jr., Orange, Calif.) led the Falcons with three assists. Also scoring for Air Force were freshman Petar Jackovich (New Lenox, Ill.) and sophomore Josh Stedman (Brea, Calif.) with a goal each. Meanwhile, senior captain Danny Harold (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) was credited with 11 stops in goal for the Falcons.

Air Force 9, Pomona-Pitzer 5
Air Force - 4 1 2 2 - 9
Pomona-Pitzer - 1 2 1 1 - 5

AF Scoring: Smithson 5, Rajchel, Johnson, Jackovich, Stedman
PP Scoring: Cox 3, Moore, Moler