91短视频

• April 20, 2016

The 91短视频 men's golf team made history on Wednesday, defeating Sonoma State 3-2 in match play to capture the 2016 California Collegiate Athletic Association team championship. It's the first CCAA championship in team history for the Pioneers.

Men's golf is the second Pioneer squad to capture a conference title in 2016, joining women's basketball, which won both the regular season and tournament championships in March. After six years of championship-eligible membership in the CCAA with no team titles, Cal State East Bay has now won two championships in just over six weeks.

The Pioneers defeated the Seawolves in three out of the five matches at Silverado Resort & Spa on Wednesday to emerge victorious. For head coach Alan Sue and his squad, it's the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work and improvement over the course of the season.  

East Bay didn't win a tournament all season until this week and entered the week ranked outside the top 10 in the region, but the Pioneers played their best golf of the year when it mattered most. As CCAA champions, they also earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division II West/South-Central Regionals.

Thanks to their historic victory, East Bay's season will continue in two weeks at the NCAA Regionals, which will be hosted by Western New Mexico University in Las Cruces, N.M. The tournament takes place May 1-4, with the Pioneers looking to advance to the NCAA Div. II National Championships for the first time ever. 

CSUEB opened the day on a high note, as senior Joel Keylor and junior Chad Hall both took early leads in the first two pairings. Both of them held on with clutch championship performances to win their matches. 

Keylor fired a 74 (+2) to beat Kenny Maroney of Sonoma State (77) by three strokes. Hall completed an impressive week with the low round of the day for the Pioneers, carding 71 (-1) to hold off Justin Shluker (72) by just one stroke.

East Bay won the first two matches, but the Seawolves were victorious in the next two. Adam Stone, Monday's CCAA individual champion, shot 75 (+5) and lost to an outstanding round by SSU's Brandon Lee (69). Freshman Jonathan Mulvany, who was clutch for the Pioneers the last two days, turned in a 76 (+4) to fall to Spencer Clapp (72) by four strokes.

It came down to the final pairing between CSUEB junior Owen Hutchison and Sonoma State's Nicolas Daniels for the CCAA Championship. Hutchison got off to an early lead as Daniels bogeyed three of the first five holes. Hutchison avoided any major mistakes by shooting one over par on the front nine. He protected his lead down the stretch, shooting even par on the back nine to finish off a 73 (+1) and a four-stroke victory over Daniels (77) to clinch the championship. 

The Pioneers were consistent this week, shooting team scores of 294 (+6) and 295 (+5) on Monday to finish third in the stroke play tournament. They kept that momentum going in the medal rounds and won seven out of 10 match-ups to beat Stanislaus and Sonoma for the title. It was truly a team effort, as all five golfers contributed to the victory and turned in strong performances throughout the tournament.