Air Force Academy

Sept. 14, 2004

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The 19th-ranked Air Force water polo team (1-5) heads to the West Coast Sept. 18-19 for the So-Cal Tournament, hosted by the University of Southern California. The Falcons will start out the weekend at 9:00 a.m. (PT) with a contest against the second-ranked host Trojans, and will face either No. 9 UC Santa Barbara or No. 10 Loyola Marymount in Saturday's second game. Sunday's opponents will be determined by the results on the first day of competition.

Last Time Out...
The Falcons wrapped up their two-game homestand with a pair of losses. On Friday, Air Force dropped a hard-fought contest to third-ranked UCLA, 9-3, before falling to No. 11 Navy, 14-7, to finish the weekend.

Senior captain Jared Jones tallied eight saves and two steals to lead the Falcons' stout defense against the Bruins, while fellow senior Murphey Morgan tallied two goals in the loss. Against the Midshipmen, senior Matt Herrera led the Air Force offense, scoring three goals, all on extra-man opportunities.

Head Coach Jeff Ehrlich...
Head coach Jeff Ehrlich is in his sixth season at the helm of the Air Force water polo program. He came to the Academy in 1999 after a 25-year stint at Villa Park High School in Orange County, Calif.

Since his arrival at the Academy, Ehrlich has led the team to a 82-65 record. Additionally, the Falcons have been nationally ranked in the top 20 at the conclusion of each of Ehrlich's five seasons, with a best final ranking of 13th in 1999.

The Teams...
This weekend's So-Cal Tournament features 14 teams, all of which were ranked in the top 20 in the latest national poll (Sept. 8), including nine of the top 10 ranked squads.

The field is divided into four groups--Air Force is joined in Group A by No. 2 USC, No. 9 UCSB and No. 10 Loyola Marymount. Group B is comprised of No. 1 Stanford, No. 8 Long Beach State and No. 12 UC San Diego. No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 Pepperdine and No. 20 Cal Baptist are in Group C, while No. 4 Cal, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 15 Pacific and No. 16 UC Davis are all in Group D.

Scouting the Trojans...
The second-ranked USC Trojans, defending national champions, opened their season last weekend with a pair of wins. USC defeated No. 5 UC Irvine, 10-6, before downing No. 6 Pepperdine, 10-4.

Leading scorers for the Trojans through the first two games are senior James Shin and sophomores Thomas Hale and Juraj Zatovic with three goals each.

Scouting the Lions...
The Loyola Marymount Lions, ranked 10th in the nation, enter this weekend with a 4-1 overall record. In its last contest, LMU picked up an 8-6 victory over Santa Clara, scoring the final two goals of the game.

The Lions are led by junior Endre Rex-Kiss, who has scored 19 goals in just five games, and has turned in two separate five-goal performances thus far.

Scouting the Gauchos...
No. 9 UC Santa Barbara is riding a five-game win streak, including a perfect 4-0 record last weekend at the Inland Empire Classic. The Gauchos defeated Redlands, 7-3, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 16-6, Pomona-Pitzer, 13-6, and La Verne, 12-7, to improve to 7-1 overall.

UCSB's leading scorer through the first games is senior Brian Alexander, with 22 goals, while Andrew Schoneberger has added 10 goals.

The Gauchos and Falcons have already met once this season, with UCSB taking a 9-3 victory at the season-opening Triton Invitational.

Series Records...
This weekend will mark the 12th meeting between Air Force and USC, with the Trojans going undefeated against the Falcons. The last time the two teams faced each other was on Sept. 7, 2002, with USC capturing a 17-4 victory.

Should Air Force face Loyola Marymount in the second game of the So-Cal Tournament, it would mark the 29th meeting for the two teams. Air Force holds a 20-8 advantage in the series. Last season, the Falcons and Lions met three times, with LMU winning two of the contests.

The Falcons could meet the Gauchos for the 28th time in the overall series, including the second time this season. UCSB leads the all-time series with a 23-4 record against Air Force, including a 9-3 victory on Sept. 4.

Against the Best...
The Falcons have already faced five opponents that are ranked in the current national poll, including third-ranked UCLA. This weekend, Air Force will see most of the country's top teams as all 14 squads competing at the So-Cal Tournament sit among the nation's top 20 (as of Sept. 8). The Falcons are assured to face the No. 2 team, USC, which captured the national title a year ago.

In the Record Books...
Senior Murphey Morgan is continuing his assault on the Air Force record books. With an assist against Navy, Morgan moved into a tie for third place on the career assist list at the Academy. He also has a chance to crack the top five in total points by the end of his career. Morgan currently sits in 14th place on the Academy's career scoring list with 192 points. Next up on the list is 2001 graduate Chad Simendinger with 194 points.

Playing Some Solid "D"...
Although Air Force was unable to pull out a victory against the third-ranked Bruins last Friday, there were some bright spots for the Falcons, most notably the performance of senior goalkeeper Jared Jones. The team captain notched eight saves and two steals against UCLA, while directing the defense that made several crucial stops and held 2004 Olympian Brett Ormsby to just one goal.

Up Next...
The Falcons' varsity squad will get a rest next weekend as Air Force's "B" team hosts the CWPA Tournament next weekend, Sept. 25-26. The Falcons then head back out west as they face Pacific on Oct. 1, followed by an appearance in Pacific's NorCal Tournament Oct.2-3.