Men's Golf
The Billiken men's golf team closed out their season, as well as their tenure in Conference USA, last week, finishing 14th in the C-USA tournament. The tournament was held in Gulfport, Miss., at the Grand Bear Golf Club.
The Billikens shot a collective 939 to finish the three-day tournament at 55 over par. The last-place Billikens were 20 shots behind DePaul University and the University of South Florida, the two teams that tied for 12th.
Conference powerhouse Texas Christian University steamrolled the competition on their way to a collective 23 shots under par. The Horned Frogs bested the second-place team, University of Charlotte, by 26 total strokes.
TCU had the top four individual golfers in the tournament, including Colby Beckstrom and Drew Stoltz, who topped the leader board at seven under par for the tournament.
Senior Evan Frederick was the top finisher for the Billikens at 11 over par, to put him in 39th place. Frederick did post a blazing 69 on the final day of the tournament, however, to end his career as a Billiken in style. The 69 tied a season low for Frederick.
The season has concluded for the Billikens, and they will look to juniors David Perritt and Barry O'Neill, as well as freshman Ryan Blechle, to lead them to prominence as they make the shift to the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Men's Soccer
The men's soccer team rebounded from a tough spring game loss at the hands of defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers Tuesday night, as they dismantled Southwest Missouri State 5-0. The second spring match was held at Robert R. Hermann Stadium, and was the first home match of the season for the Bills.
The Billikens wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard as sophomore John DiRaimondo scored in the fourth minute of the game. DiRaimondo scored from 16 yards out, off of an assist from freshman Dado Hamzajic.
The Billikens' second score came 24 minutes later, when an SMS defender headed the ball into his own goal, off of a pass from Casey Spiess.
Spiess got his own goal nine minutes later, however, scoring from 10 yards away. Colin Rooney, a transfer student from the University of Massachusetts, scored off of a rebound two minutes later.
The Billikens closed out their scoring for the evening in the 54th minute, when Patrick Garcia scored from 16 yards out, with the pass coming from the foot of junior forward Eddie Parker.
The Billikens made it a tough night for SMS goalkeeper Lance Parker, as they out shot the Bears 20-11.
Billiken goalies Pat Disbennett and David Greathouse combined to earn the shutout for SLU.
Women's Golf
The first season ever of women's golf concluded last week for the Billikens, as they finished 10th in the Conference USA tournament. The tournament was played in Germantown, Tenn., at the Germantown Country Club.
The Billikens finished 118 shots behind the ninth-place Bearcats of the University of Cincinnati. The Billikens posted a team score of 1098 over the three-day tournament, with scores of 358, 378 and 362 over the respective days.
Freshman standout Keely Fitzgerald was the top-place finisher for the Billikens, as she shot a 42 over par 258 for the tournament. Classmate Jenny Madras was the second finisher for the Billikens and 46th overall, shooting a 51 over par 267. Fitzgerald tied for 44th overall.
Tulane University took home the C-USA crown, finishing 34 over par as a team.
They barely held off Texas Christian University, who finished a paltry five shots behind the Green Wave.
The top individual finisher was Alison Walshe, who shot a two-under par 214 over the three-day tournament. Her teammate, Liliana Alvarez, tied for third place with the University of South Florida's Christina Jones, at 223, or seven over par.
The Billikens will look to improve their fortunes in their second season, as they head to the Atlantic 10 Conference.
