Senior team captain Nick Hruby exploded in Tenney Stadium, netting a career-best six goals to lift the Falcons to an 8-7 victory and their first win of 2018. The Falcons improve to 1-2 on the season. Hruby notched the first goal via Jack Flynn’s assist just 58-seconds into the game, setting the tone for what would become a long day for Hruby’s defender. Marist’s Gannon Morrison responded with a goal at 12:56. Hruby notched his second goal at the 9:22 mark in an unassisted attack on the Marist cage. Marist ceased the momentum as they rattled off three goals from the 8:19 mark to the 5:03 mark, led by Mitchell Standera’s pair of goals. Falcon sophomore Kyle Richbourg tallied his first career goal at the 4:44 mark, putting a stop to Marist’s run. After a scoreless eight minutes of second period action, Hruby found an opportunity to attack, notching his hat trick goal at the 6:12 mark. Marist responded by firing off three-straight for the second time, propelling them to a 7-4 lead with 4:36 remaining in the third period. Undeterred, the Falcons battled back as Trey Lervick found the man on fire, Hruby, open for the shot and ensuing goal at the 4:21 mark. Eighty seconds later, junior Tim Baker netted an unassisted goal, bringing the Falcons within one, 7-6. The rest of the game belonged to Hruby and Roman Rohrbach. Rohrbach made the connection to the Coppell, Texas, native for the equalizer and his fifth goal of the game with 1:36 remaining in the third period. Staunch defenses on both sides of the field yielded a scoreless fourth quarter with the teams knotted at seven. With 3:19 remaining in the game, Rohrbach connected with Hruby which Hruby in turn snapped the ball into the nylon for his sixth goal. The goal would become the eventual game-winner. At the final whistle, Hruby led the squad with 12 shots, nine of which were on the Marist cage. He also picked up three ground balls. Air Force as a team controlled the possessions, outshooting the Red Foxes, 42-22, and picking up 23 ground balls to Marist’s 12. Air Force’s standout faceoff man, Trent Harper, proved dominant at the X for the third time in as many tries this season. The Birmingham, Alabama, native went 12-19 (.632) for the Falcons at centerfield. Harper also led the team with six ground balls. Richbourg also put his scooping abilities on display, picking up five ground balls for the Falcons. Falcon LSM big man, Jeremiah Hemme, led the team with two caused turnovers. In his debut in the Falcons’ cage, Braden Host logged eight saves. Air Force continues action on the road against Cleveland State, at the University of Denver, in the 2018 Pioneer Face Off Classic, Fri., Feb. 23. The Falcons and Vikings will square off at Peter Barton Stadium at 4 p.m. (MT).