Florida Tech’s Season Comes To An End With Loss To No. 2 Lynn At NCAA Championships
By Florida Tech // May 26, 2017
KISSIMMEE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech’s season came to a close Thursday with a 3-1-1 loss to No. 2 Lynn in the match play quarterfinals at the 2017 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships to finish in a tie for fifth place in the nation.
The fifth-seeded, No. 6 ranked Panthers had a seesaw battle with the fourth seeded and second ranked Fighting Knights. In the first pairing, Gaelen Trew led throughout a majority of the final nine holes, though a late run by Martin Cancino on the last three holes allowed him to take a two-stroke win.
Shanren Brienen earned the Panthers’ only win in match play over Mateo Gomez. The sophomore fell behind by a stroke after the second hole of the contest, but he fought his way back two holes later and led the rest of the way for a one stroke victory.
Han Xue held the largest stroke lead of the five matches in his pairing against Felix Kvarnstrom at five shots. However, Kvarnstrom inched his way back throughout the final nine holes to end the bout in a tie.
Lynn’s Tomas Gana led his match wire-to-wire and posted a two stroke win against Max O’Hagan to give the Fighting Knights a 2-1-1 edge heading into the final pairing.
Jonas Kugel trailed through most of his match with Manuel Torres. Kugel took a one stroke lead on hole 2, but it dissipated quickly and Torres pulled ahead two holes later to win by a single stroke and clinch Lynn’s berth into the national semifinal.
Despite the loss, Florida Tech has a lot to be proud of as it completed the best season in program history culminating in a fifth place finish at the national championships. The Panthers are a young team and return a number of key contributors from the 2016-17 campaign.
Look for Florida Tech to be back in the title hunt next year.
.@FITMensGolf falls to Lynn 3-1-1 in match play in #D2MGolf quarterfinals. Congrats to the Panthers on an amazing run and season!
— Florida Tech Sports (@FTPanthers) May 25, 2017
