Air Force Academy

Sept. 23, 2002

The United States Air Force Academy hosted a Southwest division club tournament this past weekend and its junior varsity squad played in three exhibition games.

The Air Force JV captured three victories versus the following opponents: the University of Colorado (Boulder), the Univ. of Arizona and the Univ. of Utah.

The exhibition games provided an excellent opportunity for the JV team to gain game experience and demonstrate their skills and abilities. The games also provided the coaching staff with a useful tool to evaluate which players will move up to the varsity traveling team.

In the first game against CU, AF won 14-3. C2C (Jr.) Mitch Adams led the scoring with three goals. C1C (Sr.) Garrett Erickson, C2C Chris Palmer, and C4C (Fr.) Justin Perkins tallied two goals. The following players each scored one goal in the victory: C1C Trevor Warren, C3C (So.) Matt Herrera, and C4Cs Jeff Donaldson, Pete Larsen and Brad Roberts. Defensively, Donaldson had four steals.

The second game featured Air Force versus Arizona. The Falcons squad commanded a 9-3 halftime lead and finished the game ahead 14-10. C4C Justin Perkins led the attack with four goals. Adams contributed three goals in the victory. Erickson and Herrera added two goals each while C4Cs Zach Carey, Greg Balzhiser, and Brad Roberts each scored one. In the goal, C2C Kelley Greiner and C3C Jared Jones each blocked seven shots. Jones added four assists.

Utah came out strong and led 3-2 after one quarter and trailed 6-5 at the half. Air Force started the game sluggishly but found its groove in the final half to win the game 16-9. This game provided a valuable learning experience for the squad by showing that a lack of effort and mental preparation results in poor performance. Adams led the scoring charge with four goals and received the tournament MVP for the Falcons. Palmer and C3C Brian Wooley each scored three goals. Erickson scored two goals in the victory, while Warren, Donaldson, Perkins, and Balzhiser each tallied one goal. In the goal, Greiner had seven blocked shots and three assists while Jones blocked five shots.

The Air Force varsity team travels to participate in the Univ. of Santa Cruz SlugFest Tournament, 28-29 September. The Falcons will compete against five Western Water Polo Association conference opponents. The Falcons seek to improve upon their 2-1 conference record (2-6 overall) and gain victories in each contest.

Saturday 28 September 2002

10:00am UC Davis (#18) vs. Air Force

2:00pm Air Force vs. UC San Diego (#11)

7:00pm Air Force vs. Pomona

Sunday 29 September 2002

9:00am UC Santa Cruz vs. Air Force

1:00pm Santa Clara vs. Air Force

All games are at the UCSC East Fieldhouse pool. First team listed wears dark caps.