Air Force Academy

Sept. 20, 2006

The 17th-ranked Air Force water polo team wraps up its home slate this weekend as it plays host to No. 2 Cal and No. 8 UC Davis. The Falcons take on Cal at 11:00 a.m. Saturday and 1:00 p.m. Sunday. Meanwhile, Air Force and WWPA-foe UC Davis will meet at 9:00 Sunday morning.

Scouting the Falcons... Air Force, ranked 17th in the nation, improved to 8-4 on the year after going undefeated at the East Meets West Tournament last weekend. The Falcons started with a pair of victories over MIT and La Verne, before knocking off No. 19 Cal Baptist and No. 20 Brown in a pair of 11-5 contests.

Senior goalkeeper Denver Saunders was named the tournament MVP after registering 32 saves, one assist and one steal over the weekend. Fellow senior Kyle Schafer, who notched a team-leading nine goals and six assists over the weekend, was also named to the all-tournament team.

Other leading scorers for Air Force included senior Danny Kimmich with eight goals and junior Justin Berry with seven goals.

Scouting the Bears... The second-ranked Cal Bears suffered their first loss of the season last weekend, falling to USC, 10-7, in the championship of the NorCal Tournament. The Bears are now 10-1 on the year, with wins over UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego and Stanford over the weekend.

The Bears are coached by Kirk Everist, in his fifth year at the head of the program. Leading Cal's offense is senior John Mann, who has notched 31 goals on the season.

Scouting the Aggies... The UC Davis Aggies, currently ranked eighth in the nation, dropped to 4-5 on the season last weekend, finishing eighth at the NorCal Tournament. The Aggies defeated Pepperdine before falling to USC, Loyola Marymount and Pacific.

UC Davis is coached by Steve Doten, in his sixth season at the helm of the program. The Aggies' leading scorer is junior Nick Arrigo, who has notched 19 goals on the season, and was named the first WWPA Player of the Week for 2006.

Series Records... This weekend, Air Force will meet Cal for the 19th and 20th times, with the Bears leading the all-time series, 18-0. The two teams last met in 1998, with Cal taking the 11-4 victory.

Air Force and UC Davis will meet for the 52nd time this weekend, with the Falcons holding a 33-18 advantage in the series. The Aggies have won four straight against Air Force, including a pair of contests last season.

Up Next... Air Force gets the next two weeks off before returning to action Oct. 14-15 at the SoCal Tournament, hosted by USC.

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