USAF ACADEMY, Colo. – Sophomore attackers Benjamin DiBattista and Nicholas Blalock were the Leopards' standouts in front of goal in Lafayette's season-opening loss (13-12) at Air Force on Sunday. DiBattista notched three goals, while Blalock finished with two goals and two assists.

Lafayette was first to strike in the contest (13:49), thanks to a goal by freshman midfielder Erik Volfson. The next 11 minutes of play was dominated by the hosts. Air Force put together a 4-0 run, which was eventually halted by DiBattista's first goal of the day (1:32). Ben Heidt tallied another score for the Falcons late in the quarter and after the first period the Maroon and White trailed 5-2.

The hosts kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, but Lafayette put four goals past Matt Deedy to keep it within striking distance. Caelan Driggs and Christian Schweiger both netted two goals in the frame for Air Force and senior captain Aidan Kopen notched two for the Leopards. It appeared the Falcons were going to head into halftime with a 10-5 lead, but Kopen found the back of the net with seven seconds left to reduce Lafayette's deficit to 10-6.

Head coach Patrick Myers' group owned the second half of play. After a scoreless first six minutes, seniors Nick Muller, Jack Irish and DiBattista all scored within 1:15 of one another to make it a two-goal game (11-9) with 7:23 remaining in the stanza. Freshman attacker Charlie Foley also made his way onto the scoresheet for the first time in his career, but goals from Luke Vrsansky and Schweiger cushioned the hosts' lead to 13-10 with 15 minutes to go.

The Maroon and White outshot the Falcons 11-3 in the final quarter, but quality defense and four saves from Deedy aided Air Force in escaping with a narrow 13-12 victory. DiBattista and Blalock were the Leopards' scorers in the final stanza.

Junior faceoff specialist Nick Faccone had a monster day at the x. The Warren, N.J. native won a career-high 19 duels on 26 attempts and he scooped up a career-best 10 ground balls.

In between the pipes, sophomore goalkeeper Patrick Roelke made his first career start as a Leopard, recording six saves while scooping up a ground ball and causing a turnover. His counterpart Deedy made nine stops.

The Leopards now look to capture their first win of the season on Saturday as Binghamton makes its way to College Hill for a 12 p.m. start. Live coverage can be viewed on ESPN+.
 

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