Battle Royale
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --- Leading up to Friday night's competition at the No. 20-ranked Air Force Academy, California Baptist University head coach Rick Rowland knew his team would have a battle ahead.
A battle is exactly what the Lancers got. Both teams fought hard to take control of the game, exchanging leads throughout the contest, until the Falcons took over in the fourth quarter and never let go. Air Force held on to the 14-10 victory to edge out its Western Water Polo Association opponent.
"We stayed with them for the first half, but they made a good run in the second," said Rowland. "It's hard to play in altitude. Hopefully we'll get a chance to play them again at the conference tournament at sea level."
From the beginning, neither team could shake the other off its tail, but it was the Lancers who scored first to take an early 2-0 lead. The Falcons were right back in it, though, scoring a goal off exclusion a minute before the first period ended.
"They went 5-of-7 on 6-on-5 situations, one better than us at 4-of-7," said Rowland. "We have to play better defense in those scenarios."
Air Force continued on to add two more unaswered goals to complete a 3-0 run and take its first lead of the game at 3-2. CBU responded back, but the Falcons added another to put the game at 4-3.
With the game tied at 4---off a backhanded redirect goal from David Ring--and goalie Dylan Vrooman out on an exclusion, the Lancers came together as a team to prevent the Falcons from grabbing the power play goal. Cody Wetherbee stole the ball to put CBU on a counterattack, giving Cameron Custance the chance to put it away and give the Lancers back the lead at 5-4.
The lead didn't last long, however, as Air Force responded right back to tie the game at 5-5 just before halftime.
Coming out of the break, the Falcons scored two goals early to take a two-point lead. Although CBU netted a goal to cut the lead to one point, Air Force came right back to put the game back within two. Not long after, the Falcons counter attacked to extend the lead to three at 9-6.
As the Falcons looked to pull away, CBU looked to stay within reach and in the fourth quarter, Ring placed the ball in the back of the cage off an assist from Wetherbee.
Seconds later, however, Air Force was pounding right back down the Lancers' door and snuck in a powerful shot to take a 10-7 lead.
CBU continued to battle and scored back-to-back goals to bring the game back within one point. The Lancers drew a foul close to the five meter mark and Wetherbee scored the goal, placing it over goalie Caleb Guarino's head. David Rodriguez took advantage of another Falcon defensive breakdown to put the score at 10-9 in favor of the Air Force.
With just over five minutes left to play, the Falcons once again built up their lead, keeping the Lancers no less than two goals behind them. As the clock wound down, Air Force held on to its 14-10 lead, despite the Lancers scrambling to get more goals.
"Air Force swam well and played good water polo in the third and fourth quarters," said Rowland. "We turned over the ball too much and they took advantage of it. They finished their chances and we didn't. That was a big difference."
Vrooman registered nine saves and three steals on defense, while Wetherbee led the Lancer offense with four goals.
The loss drops CBU to 3-6 overall, 0-1 in conference, while the Falcons improve to 2-7 on the season, 1-0 in the WWPA. The Lancers will play two games tomorrow, first facing Pomona-Pitzer at 10 a.m., followed by Mercyhurst at 4 p.m.
