DENVER – Freshman Mark Matthews (Oshawa, Ontario) scored a hat trick and had an assist, but it wasn't enough as the University of Denver men's lacrosse team (7-8, 1-4 GWLL) fell to the visiting Air Force Falcons (7-6, 4-1 GWLL) on Saturday evening at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.

Senior Joey Murray (Denver, Colo.) extended his consecutive goal-scoring streak to eight games as he tallied his 25th goal of the season 71st of his career. Juniors Charley Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) and John Dickenson (Dallas, Texas) had a goal each, while senior Austin Konkel (Aurora, Colo.) scored his first goal of his collegiate career.

The Pioneers put the first point on the board as Matthews scored his 22nd goal of the season on a pass from senior Cory Schaeffler (Carmel, Calif.), a shot to the left of Falcon goalie Brian Wilson with 8:50 remaining in the first period.

Air Force (7-6, 4- 1 GWLL) netted the equalizer exactly two minutes later as K.J. Landgraf scored his first of the game on a pass from Eric Evans. Wth 3:34 remaining, Konkel found the back of the net on a pass from Matthews for the first goal of his career, giving the Pioneers a 2-1 lead. Landgraf evened the score once again with 1:40 left in the period as he scored his second of the game on a low shot from Ridge Flick.

The Falcons added three goals in the second period as Evans, Colin Lockhart and Landgraf all scored to take a 5-2 lead heading into the break. Air Force then added another two goals to start the third period as Adam Paranka and Bryan Gilbreath both scored to put the Falcons ahead 7-2. Murray broke the Falcon's five-goal scoring streak with 11:52 left in the third period, scoring his 25th goal of the season.

Just second later, Air Force's Gilbreath scored his second of the game on a pass from Dan Gnazzo. Over nine and a half minutes later, the Falcons scored their ninth goal of the game as Flick scored on a pass from Evans to take a six-goal advantage.

The Pioneers attempted a rally in the fourth period as John Dickenson, Matthews and Charley Dickenson scored three consecutive goals over a span of eight minutes to pull within three goals of Falcons, 9-6. Air Force added its final goal of the game with 3:32 left as John DeBonis scored his first goal of the season. Matthews added his third and final goal of the game with 2:40 remaining as he slipped a Cliff Smith (Surrey, B.C.) pass in the back of the net.

Junior Pete Lowell (Freeport, Maine) posted a career-high 15 saves during the contest, while Denver tallied 45 shots and 39 ground balls.

Prior to the start of the game, Denver honored six seniors for their commitments and performance during their seasons as a Pioneer. Murray, Smith, Schaeffler, Konkel, Kyle Widerstedt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) and Mike Anderson (Louisville, Ky.) were all recognized with a pre-game ceremony.

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DENVER, Colo. - Playing on the road for the final game of the regular season, the Air Force lacrosse team registered a 10-7 conference victory over Denver Saturday evening at Barton Lacrosse Stadium. With the win, the Falcons finish the regular season with a 7-6 overall mark and a 4-1 ledger in the GWLL.

The victory gave Air Force its best-ever GWLL record, while also guaranteeing the Falcons finish at least .500 for the season for the Falcons for the first time since 1997. Air Force's win over Denver was also its first over the Pioneers since 2002, snapping a six-game losing streak against the in-state rival.

The game started out slowly offensively, with more than six minutes going by in the opening quarter before Denver got on the board with a goal from freshman Mark Matthews. The Falcons responded two minutes later, as senior K.J. Landgraf (Cordova, Md.) found the back of the net with an assist from Eric Evans (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.). The first career goal for Denver defenseman Austin Konkel put the Pioneers back on top with 3:34 remaining in the first period, before Landgraf tied the game back up with his second goal of the day.

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2009-04-26