Thursday, May 25, 2023

WARREN, Ohio – Simon Fraser’s exceptional season has come to an end in the head-to-head quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships at the Avalon Lakes Golf Course in Warren, Ohio.

The No. 8 seed Red Leafs came into the day matched up against No. 1 seed Oklahoma Christian after winning a three-team playoff on Wednesday to advance to match play for the first time in program history. The Eagles defeated SFU 3-1-1 on Thursday after advancing to match play with a score of 10-under-par 854 through three rounds of stroke play to lead the field.

Junior Michael Crisologo gave Simon Fraser its lone match win of the quarterfinal, finishing seven strokes ahead of Oklahoma Christian’s Santiago Villareal. Crisologo continued his impressive form from Wednesday, never trailing Villareal after going up a stroke on the second hole. His dominant play manifested in a lead that grew as large as eight strokes before Villareal clawed back a stroke on hole 17. Crisologo’s total score of 72 was the best of any golfer across both teams.

Sophomore Ryan Hodgins was embroiled in a close fight the whole way with the Eagles’ Oskari Nikku en route to a tie. Hodgins led from the fourth hole until the 18th where Nikku forced a tie at the last possible opportunity. Hodgins had to stay sharp on the entire course as his margin was never more than two strokes.

Senior Jordan Bean was narrowly defeated by two strokes after finishing six of the 18 holes tied with OC’s Exequiel Rodriguez. The pair were even from hole two to hole five before Bean grabbed the lead on the sixth. He would hold that lead through the remainder of the front nine until Rodriguez forced them level at hole 10. Even after trailing on hole 12, Bean stayed close, never dropping more than two strokes back to finish his season.

Senior Aidan Goodfellow opened match play strong, trading the lead with OC’s Alejandro Armijo before the pair settled into five straight holes of even play to round out the front nine. Goodfellow led again after hole 10 before Armijo tied the score again on hole 13 en route to a four-stroke match win. Sophomore Bailey Bjornson also finished four strokes back from his Oklahoma Christian rival Mateo Pulcini.

The semifinal loss caps off a very successful season that saw the Red Leafs win their third GNAC Championships title and their first since 2018. Simon Fraser advanced to the NCAA Championships after tying for fourth at the NCAA West/South Central Super Regional earlier in the month. The team finishes the season with 10 top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments, including seven top-five results and two wins.