Red Flash Women’s Golf Tabbed as NEC Preseason Co-Favorites, Men Picked Sixth
LORETTO, Pa. (March 9, 2006) – The Saint Francis women’s golf team, winners of five of seven Northeast Conference crowns, was chosen, along with defending champion Long Island, as the co-favorite to claim the 2006 league title. Both the Red Flash and Blackbirds received three first-place votes each, while Monmouth received two and is predicted to finish third.
Saint Francis’ men’s golf team was picked to finish fifth out of 10 teams. Defending champ Central Connecticut State earned six of the 10 first-place votes, followed by Monmouth, Robert Morris, and Long Island.
The Red Flash women’s team, which won the first two league titles in 1998 and 1999 and three more from 2002-04, will be led by a pair of all-conference performers in junior Megan Schaeffer (Richland, Pa.) and sophomore Samantha Milosh (Aliquippa, Pa.). Schaeffer finished tied for 10th at the 2005 NEC Championship after garnering runner-up honors during her rookie season. Schaeffer was named the league’s Golfer of the Week in October following her 30th place finish at the competitive Penn State Invitational.
Milosh placed seventh at last year’s NEC Championship to earn the league’s Rookie of the Year award. During her rookie season, Milosh fired four sub-80 rounds, including a six-over-par 78 to claim medalist honors at the Mount Saint Mary’s Spring Thing.
Senior Mary Kate Williams (Somerville, N.J.) and sophomore Stephanie Switzer (Beaver, Pa.) round out Saint Francis’ roster. Williams earned all-conference accolades with a ninth place finish at the 2004 NEC Championship, while Switzer placed 23rd at last year’s conference tournament.
The Red Flash men’s team will look to carry the momentum of its title at the Mount Saint Mary’s Fall Classic into the spring season. Sophomore Steve Foisy (Repentigny, Quebec), who earned back-to-back NEC Golfer of the Week honors to open the fall season, will lead the young Saint Francis squad. Foisy averaged 77.15 shots-per-round as a rookie, the lowest among this year’s returnees.
Junior transfer Craig Alvaro (Saint Thomas, Ontario) and sophomore Matt Gowdy (London, Ontario) posted solid second place finishes at the Mount’s Fall Classic to lead the Flash to victory. Juniors Mike Hammond (London, Ontario), Nick Wheeler (Ingersoll, Ontario), and Nate Glass (Carrolltown, Pa.), along with freshman Kyle DeYulis (Ebensburg, Pa.), will also be counted on in order for SFU to make a run at a league title.
The Red Flash women open the spring season at Winthrop University’s Shamrock Intercollegiate in Tega Cay, S.C., next Friday, while the men will open at the Monmouth Invitational on April 2.
The Northeast Conference Championships will take place in Florida for the first time in league history. The women’s championship will be held at Walt Disney World’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course in Orlando from April 29-30. The men’s tournament will take place at Walt Disney World’s Palm Golf Course from May 6-7