April 22, 2001

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette golf team finished in seventh place at the 2001 Patriot League Championships, shooting a three-round total of 962 on the 6,611-yard, par-71 U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course.

Navy (889, +37) earned its third consecutive title, overcoming a five-stroke deficit in the final 27 holes to edge Colgate (892, +40) by three strokes. Rounding out the field was Lehigh (914, +62) in third place, Bucknell (917, +65) in fourth place, Army (931, +79) in fifth place, and Holy Cross (947, +95) in sixth place.

Two freshmen led the Leopards in the two-day tournament, as Derek Downing (St. James, N.Y./Smithtown) finished in a tie for 15th place with a 77-80-76--233 and Joel Goldberg (West Chester, Pa./West Chester Henderson) ended in a tie for 29th place with an 81-79-80--240.

Lafayette senior co-captains Frank Fazzinga (Hawthorne, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and Andrew Mitchell (Eden Prairie, Minn./Blake) each tied for 36th place to round out the Leopards' top-four finishers. Fazzinga fired an 87-82-81--250, while Mitchell carded an 81-81-88--250. Freshman Jonathan Cohn, who shot a 78 in the opening round, withdrew from the tournament following the second round.

Four Navy players finished among the top 10 in the individual race, led by Billy Hurley in second (213, E) and Drew Craig in fourth (221, +8). Lehigh's Bowen Osborn claimed the individual title with a Patriot League record score of two-under par 211. Third place went to Colgate's Eli Zackheim (217, +4), while Bucknell's Jimmy Freeman (222, +9) finished fifth.

The Leopards will compete in the Lehigh Valley Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday at Lehigh Country Club beginning at 1 p.m.