Service Academy SITREP: Ike Award Update

It’s Ike time! Since we last caught you up on what’s been going on outside of football, we have had two major Ike Award contests and have another on the way this weekend! Let’s look at the last two games and where we stand early in the fall sports season.

Air Force vs. Army Women’s Soccer: 0-0 Tie

The Air Force women’s soccer team traveled to West Point last Friday night for an inter-service academy competition against the Black Knights. Though both sides had their chances early on, the majority of the contest was dominated by Army. They outshot the Falcons 23-8, including 9-4 in shots on goal. They had 14 shots in the second half to only one for Air Force. Though they were constantly on the Falcons side of the field peppering shots across the defense, senior Falcons goalkeeper Jennifer Hiddink stood strong, keeping anything from finding the back of the net and securing a 0-0 draw between the two squads. There were several moments late in the second half where you were left wondering just how Army had failed to score as they had shot after shot inside the box with nothing to show for it.

This certainly had to feel like a disappointment for the Black Knights as they played host to Air Force and dominated the match, spending almost the entire second half on the Falcons side of the pitch and coming away with nothing.

As a reminder, the Ike Award is based on winning percentage, so a tie did nothing to hurt or help either side.

Air Force vs. Navy Water Polo: 11-9, Navy

In what turned out to be a great back and forth affair, and not just in the pool, the Navy water polo team outlasted Air Force 11-9 to open the Princeton Invitational. Air Force led the entire first half, starting off by scoring the first two goals of the contest and carrying a 5-3 lead at the intermission. They would strike again early in the second half to go up 6-3, but Navy continued to claw their way back into the contest, eventually tying it up at 7-7 before Air Force closed out the third quarter with a one goal lead.

The Mids would dominate the fourth quarter, however, as they shutout the Falcons while scoring four goals of their own to pull out an 11-9 victory. Freshman Isaac Salinas led the way for Navy with two goals and two assists as he continues to put together a sensational rookie campaign.

As if winning the first Navy match of the season in a contest for a random made up award on an SB Nation site wasn’t enough, the Mids water polo team took satisfaction in their victory on social media as well.

The official Air Force water polo Instagram account had posted this earlier in the week:

The Navy water polo Twitter account made sure to return the favor after pulling out the victory:

You won’t find us complaining about any of the service academy rivalries stepping up the trash talk and then following it up after the score is settled.

Updated Ike Award Standings:

Air Force: 1-1-1

Army: 0-0-1

Navy: 1-1-1

Next up, we have Air Force and Navy women’s volleyball this Saturday at 3:00 EDT in Colorado Springs. The Navy team is 6-4 on the season and coming off a pair of big victories against Tulane and Howard last week. Air Force is 8-3 on the year and turned in a 3-1 performance last weekend as they hosted the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic.