Courtesy: Air Force Athletics
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – No. 8 UC Davis used a strong second quarter to defeat No. 19 Air Force, 14-8, in a battle of the top two teams in the Western Water Polo Association, Friday, Oct. 22, in Davis, Calif.
Sam Fuller put the Falcons on the board with a power-play goal at 5:38. The Aggies scored three straight before Grant Snyder’s power-play goal with 35 seconds left in the first quarter cut the UC Davis lead to 3-2. Fuller tied the game at 3-3 early in the second quarter. The Aggies scored five goals in the final four minutes of the second quarter for an 8-3 lead at the half.
Trailing 11-4 early in the fourth, Jacob Yi scored on a penalty shot and Larsen McCarroll scored from Cole Kopperud to cut the Aggie lead to 11-6 with 5:25 remaining. The Falcons got within four when Ryan McLaughlin scored on a penalty shot with 4:51 left. The home team answered with three straight goals and a 14-7 lead. Freshman Kaito Ham scored in the final 30 seconds to make up the final score.
Fuller led the Falcons with two goals and three points. Snyder had two points on one goal and one assist. A.J. Kuypers made seven saves.
Air Force (16-4, 5-2 WWPA) will compete in the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, Oct. 23-24. The Falcons will face 12th-ranked Princeton at 9:50 am MT in San Jose and then Brown at 1:50 pm MT in Santa Clara on Saturday, Oct. 23.