The Air Force lacrosse team opens its GWLL slate on the road this weekend, April 6, when it visits 18th-ranked Ohio State. The game is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Scouting the Falcons…
Air Force (2-4, 0-0) remained undefeated at home last week, capturing a 12-4 victory over Presbyterian on March 25. Chris Tubesing, David Rose and K.J. Landgraf each notched two goals and an assist to lead the Falcons’ offense against the Blue Hose.

Junior Griffin Nevitt is the Falcons’ leading scorer with nine goals and four assists on the season, while senior David Rose is second on the team with eight goals and three assists.

Scouting the Buckeyes…
Ohio State (6-3, 2-0), currently ranked 18th in the latest USILA coaches poll and 17th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll, is coming off a 20-4 victory over Bellarmine. All three of the Buckeyes’ losses have been in overtime against ranked teams.

Joel Dalgarno leads the Ohio State offense with 33 points, while Kevin Buchanan is second with 30 points. Dalgarno, the most recent GWLL Player of the Week, has a team-best 19 assists, while Buchanan leads the Buckeyes with 22 goals on the season.

The Coaches…
• Air Force is coached by Fred Acee, in his 11th season with the Falcons. Acee holds a 349-218-1 career record (41st year) and a 37-99 mark at the Academy.
• Ohio State is coached by Joe Breschi, in his 11th season at the helm of the Buckeyes’ program. Breschi holds a career record of 86-60 at Ohio State.

Series Records…
This weekend marks the 23rd meeting between Air Force and Ohio State, with the Buckeyes holding a 13-9 advantage in the series. The Buckeyes have won 10 in a row against the Falcons, including a 10-6 decision at the Academy last season.

Air Force in the Statistical Rankings…
In the latest national rankings through games of March 30, Air Force ranks 20th in the nation in man-up offense (.360).

Meanwhile, junior Dan Gnazzo ranks third in the GWLL and 21st in the nation in ground balls per game (4.83), while classmate Eric Evans ranks fourth in the conference and 30th nationally in the same category with 4.17 per game.

How They Rate…
Ohio State ranks in the top 15 nationally in four major statistical categories. The Buckeyes are third in man-up offense (.533), fifth in scoring margin (+5.0), sixth in scoring offense (12.5) and 15th in scoring defense (7.5). They lead the GWLL in man-up offense and are second in scoring offense and scoring margin.

Individually, Kevin Buchanan and Joel Dalgarno lead the league and rank tied for 15th in the country in points per game with 3.63. Buchanan is also first in the GWLL and tied for sixth in the nation with 2.75 goals per game, while Dalgarno is second in the league and 14th in the country with 1.88 assists per game. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Stefan Schroder ranks second in the GWLL with a .577 save percentage.

Keeping the Streak Alive…
Junior Griffin Nevitt will look to keep his scoring streak alive this weekend, as the midfielder has scored at least one goal or assist in 31 consecutive games. Nevitt, who has 54 goals and 28 assists in his career, has scored in 33 of 34 games in his first two-plus seasons.

Nevitt’s scoring streak of 31 games is the seventh-longest active streak in the country. Duke’s Matt Danowski leads the way with 52 straight games with at least one goal or assist. Meanwhile, Ohio State’s Kevin Buchanan has the nation’s third-longest scoring streak with 38 games, while the Buckeyes’ Joel Dalgarno is fifth with 36 games.

Gilbreath Scores…
Freshman defender Bryan Gilbreath accomplished a pair of firsts in the Falcons’ 12-4 win over Presbyterian last week. Gilbreath, who finished with two goals in the contest, became the first Air Force defender to score a goal since 2005. Gilbreath also became the second long-stick player with a goal for the Falcons this season (LSM Dan Gnazzo notched a score against Brown earlier this year). Meanwhile, with his second goal of the Presbyterian game, Gilbreath notched Air Force’s first man-down goal of the season.

Up Next…
The Falcons return home next weekend, April 11 and 13, for a pair of GWLL contests. Air Force will take on Bellarmine on April 11 at 3:00 p.m., while facing Quinnipiac, April 13 at 12:00 p.m. Both games will be held at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium.