Men’s Golf Remains Fourth After Second Day of NCAA Atlantic/East Regional
NORTH EAST, Pa. (May 7, 2021) - Through two rounds at the three-day NCAA Championship Atlantic/East Regional, the Franklin Pierce University men's golf team is in a heated battle for spots in the national tournament. The Ravens have put together a two-day total of 616 strokes (+40) and currently sit in the fourth and final qualifying spot, but third through sixth positions are separated by just four shots. The Atlantic/East Regional is being hosted by Mercyhurst University at the par-72 Lake View Country Club, which checks in at 6883 yards.
It was graduate student Sam Myers (Colchester, Vt.) who paced the Ravens on Friday, as he improved on his first-round score by four shots and fired a 76 (+4). Senior Dylan Plis (Camillus, N.Y.) fared one shot better than Thursday with his second-round 77 (+5), while freshman Thomas Hickey (Moultonbourough, N.H.) showed a four-shot improvement and carded a 79 (+7).
The other two Ravens went in the other direction, as graduate student Liam Donohue (Vernon, Conn.) fell out of the top-10 with a Friday 79 (+7). Sophomore Michael Sosik (Fiskdale, Mass.) dropped from tied-second all the way to tied-34th with a second-round 84 (+12).
It all added up to a second-round 311 (+23) for Franklin Pierce, which was six shots back of their Thursday total, though scores were mostly higher across the board on Friday.
"Our guys battled out there today in tough conditions," said head coach Tyler Bishop '08, '10 after the round. "We know we left some shots out there, but overall, we played another solid round and are in good position for tomorrow."
Through two days at the Atlantic/East Regional, Donohue is the lone Raven in the top-20 in the 85-golfer field, as he is tied-16th at 153 (+9), five shots off the lead. Plis is in a tie for 25th at 155 (+11), Myers is tied-29th at 156 (+12), Sosik is in a tie for 34th at 157 (+13), and Hickey sits tied for 56th at 162 (+18).
St. Thomas Aquinas turned in a second-round 307 (+19) and expanded its one-shot opening-day lead to a two-shot advantage over second-place Gannon, 603 (+27) to 605 (+29), atop the 16-team field. Fayetteville State tied for the best round of the day with a 306 (+18) and jumped up into third at 615 (+39), just one shot in front of the Ravens. Behind Franklin Pierce, Davis & Elkins is fifth at 617 (+41) and Bentley is sixth at 619 (+43), which sets up a Saturday showdown for berths in the NCAA Championship finals.
Individually, Millersville graduate student Brady Erb used a second-round 75 (+3) to fight through the difficult conditions and become the two-day leader at 148 (+4). He leads by one shot over a collection of four golfers tied-second at 149 (+5).
Atlantic/East Regional competition will conclude on Saturday at Lake View Country Club.