Air Force Academy

Sept. 16, 2009

The 14th-ranked Air Force water polo team is back in action this weekend, Sept. 19-20, at the NorCal Tournament, hosted by Stanford. The Falcons will face sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in their first game of the weekend, with a match-up against either No. 3 Cal or No. 12 Santa Clara in game two. Meanwhile, Sunday's opponents will be determined based on the results of Saturday's contests.

The NorCal Tournament Field...
The 2009 NorCal Tournament features 16 teams, 15 of which are ranked in the latest national poll, including the top 12 teams in the country.

The teams in this weekend's tournament are broken down into four brackets. Bracket A includes top-ranked USC, No. 8 UC Irvine, No. 9 Long Beach State and Pomona-Pitzer. Bracket B features No. 2 host Stanford, No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 11 Pacific and No. 18 UC Davis. Third-ranked Cal, sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara and 12th-ranked Santa Clara join No. 14 Air Force in Bracket C, while Bracket D includes No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Loyola Marymount, No. 10 Concordia and No. 17 UC San Diego.

Last Time Out...
Air Force won its own East Meets West Tournament last weekend, finishing with a 2-2 record. After opening with a 12-11 loss to Cal Baptist, the Falcons picked up an 8-7 victory over Cal Baptist, followed by a 14-7 win over No. 15 St. Francis. Air Force then closed out the weekend with a 12-8 loss to St. Francis.

Senior Alex Churnside, named the tournament MVP, was the team's leading scorer for the weekend, tallying seven goals and 13 assists, while freshman Cruz Smithson added six goals and four assists, including a team-best four goals in the Falcons' win over Cal Baptist.

Scouting the Falcons...
The Air Force Falcons, ranked 14th in the latest national poll, enter this weekend with a 4-4 overall record and 2-1 mark in the Western Water Polo Association.

In the WWPA Rankings...
Several Air Force players currently rank among the top-five statistical leaders in the Western Water Polo Association. Senior Alex Churnside leads the way, ranking first in the WWPA in both total assists (15) and steals (25).

Team captain Jack Hines ranks second in the league in total steals with 19, while senior goalkeeper David Ostrom is third in the conference in saves (63). In addition, junior Bobby Geiger ranks fourth in the WWPA in goals scored with 16.

Scouting the Gauchos...
The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, ranked sixth in the latest national poll, currently hold a 3-1 overall record, finishing second at the season-opening Triton Invitational. UCSB has posted wins over UC San Diego, Cal Lutheran and Pepperdine, while falling to top-ranked USC.

The Gauchos are coached by Wolf Wigo, in his fifth year at the helm of the program. The leading scorer for UCSB after four games is sophomore Noah Smith with eight goals, while redshirt freshman Brian Shoemaker has added seven scores on the season.

Scouting the Bears...
The Cal Bears, currently ranked third in the nation, enter this weekend's tournament with a 5-0 overall record. Cal is coming off a 12-4 victory over then-17th-ranked UC Davis.

The Bears are coached by Kirk Everist, in his eighth year at the helm of the program. Through five games, Cory Nasoff and Zach White lead Cal in scoring with 13 goals each, while sophomore Ivan Rackov has added 12 goals.

Scouting the Broncos...
The Santa Clara Broncos, ranked 12th in the latest national poll, enter this weekend's tournament with a 5-0 record after going undefeated at last weekend's Princeton Invitational. The Broncos knocked off the then-11th-ranked host Tigers, as well as MIT, Fordham, Harvard and George Washington.

The Broncos are coached by Keith Wilbur, in his eighth year leading the program. Leading Santa Clara in scoring through the first five games of the season is senior Jack Wall with 13 goals, while junior Nick Poggetti has added eight goals, including a six-goal performance against George Washington.

Series Records...
This weekend marks the 32nd overall meeting between Air Force and UC Santa Barbara, with the Gacuhos holding a 27-4 advantage in the all-time series. The teams last met in 2008, with UCSB escaping with a 10-9 win in double overtime.

Should Air Force meet Cal this weekend, it would mark the 23rd game in the all-time series between the two teams, with the Bears undefeated against the Falcons. The teams met twice in 2007, with Cal winning 14-4 and 11-2.

A meeting this weekend between Air Force and conference rival Santa Clara would be the 41st all-time in the series, with the Falcons leading 33-7. Air Force dropped a 9-7 contest to Santa Clara in the only meeting between the teams in 2008.

East Meets West All-Tournament Team...
The Falcons had three players honored for their respective performances at the East Meets West Tournament, with senior Alex Churnside earning tournament MVP honors, while senior Jack Hines and freshman Cruz Smithson were named to the all-tournament team.

Churnside finished the weekend with seven goals, 13 assists and 12 steals to lead the Falcons to the team trophy at the tournament. Hines added eight goals and 11 steals, while Smithson pitched in six goals and four assists on the weekend.

In the Record Books...
Senior Alex Churnside currently sits among the Academy's top 25 career scorers, ranking 12th with 215 career points (118g, 97a). Churnside just needs two points to break into the top 10. Meanwhile, Churnside is only six assists away from moving into the top five in the Falcons' record book for career assists.

In addition, two other Air Force players--senior captain Jack Hines and junior Bobby Geiger--could move into the top-25 scoring list by the end of the season. Hines (127 points) and Geiger (126 points) need to reach the benchmark of 162 career points to move into the top 25 past 1978 graduate John Wellsfry.

Up Next...
Air Force is off next weekend, but returns to action Oct. 2-3 at the Claremont Convergence Tournament before visiting Cal Lutheran on Oct. 4.

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