LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. – In a thrilling matchup, Rhode Island placed second in the inaugural Dragon Match Play Invitational, falling 3-2 to host Drexel in the finals Tuesday.
Trailing 2-0 in the best-of-five final, freshman
Josiah Tong defeated Drexel's Oscar Maxfield for his second points of the day. Tong pulled the Rams within one point.
Rhode Island also got a point from fellow freshman
Seb Carlsson. He knocked off Caleb Taylor.
That left it to the match between
Bryson Richards and Griffin Mitchell. URI's Richards led for the first 15 holes, but Griffin made up a stroke on No. 16. The two both made par on 17, but Griffin holed out in four strokes on 18, one fewer than Richards. This secured the team title for Drexel.
Rhode Island secured its fourth second-place finish in six events.
The Rams reached the finals by defeating fellow Atlantic 10 school St. Bonaventure in the semifinals. Tong delivered a birdie on the 18th hole to defeat Michael Bucko and forced a tie.
In a playoff hole,
Bryson Richards – who was the medalist in Monday's 36-hole stroke play tournament – came away the victor, securing Rhody's spot in the finals.
Head coach Gregg Burke said…
"Josiah was the star of the day with a monster birdie on 18 in the semis to get us in a playoff and then the biggest win in the finals. He earned two of our 4.5 points for the match play event.
"Seb played his best round ever on the finals and grabbed a huge point for us. Bryson got one in the morning and Owen got a half-point on the morning.
"We were in a great position coming into the final three or four holes and had larger leads early on the finals, but it didn't go our way.
"Overall, Bryson got back to making a lot of birdies, Josiah showed he is closer and closer to his potential, and Seb looks like that fourth man we have been hoping for all season.
"Over the last four tournaments each player has played in at least two so heading into Penn State and the Atlantic 10 Championship, guys have defined who they are. Hopefully we can get improvement where we need it."
