Falcons Host Siena, Travel To Connecticut For Neutral Site Game Versus Dartmouth (3/13/06)

The Air Force lacrosse team (1-4) has a pair of games this week, first hosting Siena in a 3:00 p.m. contest on Tuesday, March 14. Then, the Falcons head to the East Coast for a neutral site game against Dartmouth, taking on the Big Green on Saturday, March 18, at 1:00 p.m. (ET) at Ridgefield High School in Ridgefield, Conn.


Last Time Out...
Air Force opened its home slate last week with its first win of the season, picking up an 11-9 victory over visiting Sacred Heart. The Falcons rolled to a 5-0 lead before the Pioneers began their comeback, cutting the deficit to 10-9 with 11:21 to play. The third goal of the day for junior Justin Kuchta helped secure the victory for Air Force, which also got three goals and an assist from tri-captain Max Miller and three goals from sophomore Kevin Crumrine. Griffin Nevitt and Peter Krasco also scored for the Falcons, while Will Meister tallied three assists, along with an assist each from Krasco, Paul Adams, Patrick Mitchell and Chris Tubesing.

In addition, Justin Pavoni notched seven saves in goal for Air Force, while John Smith led the Falcons in face-offs, winning 8-of-12.


Head Coach Fred Acee...
Air Force head coach Fred Acee is in his ninth season at the helm of the Falcons’ program and his 39th season overall as a collegiate lacrosse coach.

A 1963 graduate of Cortland State, Acee coached at SUNY-Farmingdale, a two-year college on Long Island, for 30 years, compiling an overall mark of 312-119-1 and advancing to the NJCAA Final Four 25 times. Since Acee’s arrival at the Academy in the fall of 1997, the Falcons have yearly played top notch Division I schedules, compiling a record of 27-80.


Scouting the Saints...
Siena enters this week’s contest with an 0-3 record after suffering a 19-7 road loss to Stony Brook on Saturday.

The Saints led 2-0 before Stony Brook knotted the score midway through the first period. Although the score was tied at 4-4 early in the second period, Stony Brook went on an 8-0 run to run away with the victory.

Chris Zarins (six goals, three assists) and Matt Donovan (five goals, four assists) lead the Saints with nine points each on the season. Meanwhile, four different goalkeepers have seen action in between the pipes for Siena, led by John Bamford, who has notched 25 saves on the year.

Siena is coached by Brian Brecht (Springfield College ‘95), who has compiled a 4-14 career mark in his second season at the helm of the Saints’ program.


Scouting the Big Green...
Dartmouth enters this weekend’s game contest with a 3-1 record after dropping its first game of the season, an 11-10 loss to Penn State last Tuesday.

The Big Green could not overcome an early 5-1 deficit against the Nittany Lions, and, despite tying the score at 7-7 and 9-9, Dartmouth was never able to take the lead in the loss.

Nick Bonacci leads Dartmouth with 10 goals and 10 assists, while Jamie Coffin has a team-best 11 goals along with six assists. Pat Marshall has 51 saves between the pipes for the Big Green.

Dartmouth is coached by Bill Wilson (Loyola ‘94), who has compiled a 19-10 career mark in his third season at the helm of the Big Green program.


In the Series...
Air Force is 3-0 in the all-time series versus Siena, picking up an 8-6 win over the Saints in their last meeting in 2003.

Air Force is 1-1 all-time against Dartmouth, with the Falcons picking up an 18-9 decision over the Big Green in their last meeting in 1997.


Pavoni Moves Up In the Record Books...
With 52 saves through the first five games of the season, senior Justin Pavoni sits in seventh place on the career saves list at the Academy with 358 total saves, and needs 129 more saves to move past Chris Cicere into sixth place.

Most impressive about Pavoni’s feat is not only that he has accomplished it against a rigorous Division I schedule (many of Air Force’s teams in the first 25+ years of the program played Division II and III teams), but he has also made his mark in just over two full years of play, as Pavoni did not see action as a freshman.


There’s No Place like Home...
Air Force’s neutral site game versus Dartmouth on Saturday will be in a familiar location for junior Justin Kuchta, as the contest will be played at his high school stadium. Kuchta, a first-team all-conference midfielder as a sophomore, currently shares the team lead with nine points on the season (six goals, three assists).


Up Next...
Next weekend the Falcons return to the Academy for their third home game of the season, as they host St. John’s at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 25.

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Melissa McKeown
U.S. Air Force Academy
Assistant Athletic Media Relations Director
719.333.9025 (office)
719.333.3798 (fax)
719.331.8321 (cell)