Air Force men’s water polo is set for a series of four games on the West Coast this week. The team, currently holding a 13-5 record, will begin its trip with a conference match against Pacific on Thursday, October 2, at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in Stockton, California. After a day off, the Falcons will participate in the Gary Troyer Invitational on Saturday, facing Chapman and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) in Claremont. The road trip concludes with a game at Redlands on Sunday.
The Falcons’ schedule includes livestream coverage for fans: Thursday’s game against Pacific can be watched on ESPN+, while Saturday’s and Sunday’s matches at CMS and Redlands will be available via Flo Swimming. Live statistics for all games are provided by Fosh.net.
Historically, Air Force trails Pacific 7-33 and lost their last meeting 22-12 in November 2024. Against Chapman, Air Force leads the series 24-2 and won their most recent encounter 14-9 last September. The Falcons have a 39-9 advantage over CMS but were defeated by them at last season’s Troyer Invite. Air Force also leads Redlands 33-12 but lost their previous matchup in September 2023.
In their most recent competitions, Air Force went 2-2 overall. They narrowly lost to Navy before securing wins over LIU and Gannon at the Bucknell Invite.
Nationally, several Air Force players are statistical leaders according to Fosh.net. Tom Leggett leads the country in goals (86) and points (122), while Jonah Vander Veen tops assists (40). Jack Richards ranks among national leaders in both goals and assists, and Luca Smith is third nationally with 137 saves.
Junior utility player Tom Leggett recently broke school records for career goals (343) and points (448), surpassing marks set by Ben Phillips in the early 1970s. Leggett is also one of twenty players named to the 2026 Cutino Award Watch List. He has received multiple honors this season including two WCC Player of the Week awards and was selected to the Preseason All-WCC Team.
Head coach Ryan Brown achieved his 100th career win earlier this season, becoming only the third coach in program history to reach that milestone.
Former head coach Jeff Heidmous was inducted into the Air Force Athletics Hall of Fame on September 26, 2025. A graduate of USAFA in 1977, Heidmous led the program to three Western Water Polo Association titles and five NCAA appearances during his tenure from 1981 through various periods until his retirement in 2017. The Academy named its water polo pool after him in recognition of his contributions.
Looking back at last season, Air Force finished with a record of 13-20 overall and faced ranked opponents sixteen times. Tom Leggett led all NCAA players with school-record totals for goals (143) and points (183), earning ACWPC All-America third team honors.
This year’s roster features eighteen returning letterwinners including top scorers Tom Leggett and Jack Richards as well as senior goalkeeper Luca Smith who made 243 saves last season. Three seniors graduated from last year’s squad: Jacob Yi, Kaito Ham, and David Brown.
Eight freshmen joined the team this fall—seven from California and one from Illinois—adding depth across positions such as attacker, center, goalkeeper, and utility.
Team captains for this season are senior Colin Chase and junior Tom Leggett.
The Falcons are now competing in their third season as members of the West Coast Conference after previously being part of the Western Water Polo Association since 1987.
Next up after this weekend’s games is a home contest against Cal Baptist on Sunday, October 12.
