Red Flash Finish in Seventh Place at 2008 Northeast Conference Championships
Gowdy Ties for Third Place Overall
{FINAL NEC TEAM STANDINGS}
{FINAL NEC INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD}
HERSHEY, Pa. (May 4, 2008) – Despite lopping 12 strokes from their day two total in the final round of the Northeast Conference Championship on Sunday, the Saint Francis men’s golf team was awarded seventh place overall out of the 11-team field. In the play five-take four scores format, the Red Flash came together for a well-played +7, 295 on Sunday’s final round, affixing that total to Friday’s +12, 300 and Saturday’s +19, 307. The Red Flash’s +38, 902 final count ended up 32 swings back of 2008 NEC Champion Sacred Heart University. Monmouth University’s Anthony Campanile ignited the Hershey Links Golf Club for the 2008 Individual Northeast Conference Championship, clipping SHU’s Patrick Fillian by one attempt. Campanile offered a four-under, 212 (70-71-71) for all the laurels.
In the face of a performance the Red Flash would have liked to improve upon, senior stud Matt Gowdy (London, Ontario / A.B. Lucas) tied Central Connecticut State’s Matt McClure for a third-place overall entry with a one-under par 215 (72-72-71). Gowdy and McClure have accumulated a combined five NEC Golfer of the Week awards over the course of the 2007-2008 trial. Gowdy, in his final tournament gracing the Red and White, brought back Saint Francis’ highest individual finish since teammate senior Steve Foisy (Repentigny, Quebec/Academie Les Estacades) staked his claim to first place in 2006, shooting a 76 in the final round at the par-72, 6,802-yard Palm Golf Course at Walt Disney World, after a tournament-low 72 in day one, to lead St. Francis to its first ever Northeast Conference Men's Golf Championship.
Speaking of the 2006 individual champ, Foisy got his act together in his final round for the Flash, ripping off an even-par 72 to go along with his two prior rounds of 77-77. Foisy’s +10, 226 tied him in 21st overall with Mount St. Mary’s Justin Sick.
Sophomore Mike Magalski (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove) and freshman Joey Amelia (Chatham, Ontario/Chatham-Kent Secondary) each sought out very different ways of claiming a four-way tie at 31st with The Mount’s Jacob Wetzel and Long Island’s Owen Rigg throughout the Northeast Conference Championship. Magalski, the NEC’s Golfer of the Week on April 16th, fired a +15, 231 in the way of an up-and-down 77-81-73. Amelia, after whipping up his lowest collegiate round on Friday with a 74, carded a 77-80 to set his aggregate at +15, 231 as well.
Sophomore Aaron Osysko (Parma, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) inked a three round tournament of a +28, 244, putting forth his lowest score in the final round with a 79. The two-year looper also submitted an 83 and 82 in rounds one and two. Osysko’s 244 matched up with Wagner’s Jeffrey Smolar and Thomas Abramoski.
Looking at some the generated statistics from the 2008 NEC Championship, Gowdy tied five other competitors with a +1, 3.08 average for par 3 scoring. Along those lines, the bronze medalist turned out the fifth best effort on all par 4s with a +1, 4.03 rate. Gowdy leveled with five other entrants in par 5 scoring with a -3, 4.75 clip. SFU’s departing senior also achieved one of eight sank eagles throughout the tournament.
Magalski scored the fourth best effort alongside five other contestants on Hershey’s par 5s with a -4, 4.67 tempo. He also matched cohorts Amelia and Gowdy with nine birdies throughout the three-day test, fourth best overall. Both Gowdy and Foisy tied for eighth overall for the most pars with 34 total.
“Individually, I think we had a really successful year,” submitted first-year head coach Nicholas Wheeler. “As a team, well, sometimes the ball doesn’t draw or cut the way you want it to. In those big tournaments, we just had a really tough time all getting on the same page for a couple days of tournament golf. Losing Foisy and Gowdy is definitely a big blow to not only our actual output, but also as four-year leaders on this golf team.”
The Red Flash’s seventh place finish in the NEC Championships turns out to be the lowest finish since the 2005 escapade when SFU grabbed seventh overall, as well. Wheeler, a great figurehead for this program as well an accomplished linksman, should have no trouble rebounding in 2008-2009 with a strong foundation already in place.
Team Standings (Final Day)
Fin. School Scores
1 Sacred Heart 297 280 293 870 +6
2 Long Island 303 296 294 893 +29
3 Central Conn. St. 293 300 302 895 +31
4 Mount St. Mary's 296 298 302 896 +32
5 Monmouth 304 289 304 897 +33
6 Robert Morris 295 294 309 898 +34
7 Saint Francis (PA) 300 307 295 902 +38
8 Fairleigh Dickinson 304 299 302 905 +41
9 Quinnipiac 311 300 301 912 +48
10 Wagner College 326 331 326 983 +119
11 St. Francis (NY) 342 344 357 1043 +179
2008 NEC Men’s Golf Individual Results – Final Day
Fin. Name School Scores
1 Anthony Campanile MU 70 71 71 212 -4
2 Patrick Fillian SHU 71 71 71 213 -3
3 Matt McClure CCSU 70 72 73 215 -1
Matt Gowdy SFPA 72 72 71 215 -1
5 Robert Cerabone FDU 72 72 72 216 E
Rocky Co LIU 70 70 76 216 E
7 Adam Petrasovic SHU 72 68 77 217 +1
8 Kevin Farrell MSM 73 72 75 220 +4
Tim Buczak CCSU 75 71 74 220 +4
Tommy Campbell SHU 77 70 73 220 +4
11 Greg Nicolson LIU 79 73 69 221 +5
Chris Kowalczyk FDU 74 72 75 221 +5
Jeff Kingsbury MSM 69 77 75 221 +5
14 C.G. Mercatoris RMU 72 77 75 224 +8
Ian O'Connor QU 77 74 73 224 +8
Greg Parzyck FDU 76 74 74 224 +8
17 Brady Giroux QU 76 73 76 225 +9
Matt Belizze SHU 79 71 75 225 +9
Jimmy Tomaseski RMU 74 74 77 225 +9
Ryan Beck MU 75 70 80 225 +9
21 Steve Foisy SFPA 77 77 72 226 +10
Justin Sick MSM 79 71 76 226 +10
23 Joe Horvat RMU 77 72 79 228 +12
Sam Pelletier CCSU 74 77 77 228 +12
Kevin Lauretti SHU 77 77 74 228 +12
Shane Brant RMU 72 75 81 228 +12
27 Rob Gallagher LIU 77 79 73 229 +13
Joe Kabana RMU 78 73 78 229 +13
29 Taylor Krug MU 79 73 78 230 +14
Michael McComb MU 80 75 75 230 +14
31 Jacob Wetzel MSM 75 80 76 231 +15
Mike Magalski SFPA 77 81 73 231 +15
Joey Amelia SFPA 74 77 80 231 +15
Owen Rigg LIU 77 78 76 231 +15
35 Eric Hawerchak CCSU 74 80 78 232 +16
36 Sage Smith MSM 80 78 77 235 +19
Ryan Reynolds QU 79 77 79 235 +19
Charlie Niland QU 86 76 73 235 +19
Jason Loranger QU 79 77 79 235 +19
40 Kyle Margentina LIU 79 75 85 239 +23
41 Christopher Fourman WC 77 83 81 241 +25
42 Tom Ursa CCSU 78 83 81 242 +26
43 Jeffery Smolar WC 83 78 83 244 +28
Thomas Abramoski WC 79 85 80 244 +28
Aaron Osysho SFPA 83 82 79 244 +28
46 Pat Lawler FDU 83 81 81 245 +29
47 Tom Anthes FDU 82 85 83 250 +34
Andrew Hurley MU 84 83 83 250 +34
49 Connor Popp WC 87 85 82 254 +38
50 Joseph Stuto SFNY 86 82 90 258 +42
51 Charles McMenamin SFNY 83 88 88 259 +43
52 Alan Stuto SFNY 82 87 92 261 +45
53 Frank Argento SFNY 91 87 87 265 +49
54 Brian Conlon WC 96 86 89 271 +55