HELLERTOWN, Pa. – Four Loyola University Maryland men's golfers shot at or even par on Saturday as the Greyhounds pulled away for a 10-stroke win and their second-straight Patriot League Championship.
The Greyhounds, who have now won five Patriot League golf titles since joining the conference in 2013-14, will play in the NCAA Regionals for the 11
th time in school history. Loyola has won 22 conference championships since 1990 with the first 17 coming as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Loyola came into Sunday's final round with a seven-shot lead through 36 holes, but the Greyhounds four players all shot par or better to lengthen the margin of victory.
Lafayette College was second, 10 strokes back at 15-over 879, and the U.S. Military Academy finished third at 25-over 889.
Carlo Pizzano tied for first through the 54 hole tournament and lost to Lafayette's Ryan Tall in the medalist playoff on the first hole. Pizzano shot 4-under for the tournament and was even on Sunday.
Brandon Berry finished third at 2-under with a 1-under par 72 in the final round.
Matt Malits was the day's second-biggest mover, rising 11 spots to finish tied for sixth with a 2-under 70, tied for the second-best round of the day.
Brett Inserra and
Mike Crowley tied for 20
th at 10-over. Inserra shot an even-par 72, highlighted by an eagle on the 525-yard, par-5 fifth hole.
Jackson Roman rounded out the Greyhounds contingent at the tournament with a tie for 25
th at 11-over.
Roman, Malits and Inserra got the day started on a steady note for the Greyhounds, all shooting even par through the first five holes. Pizzano had a birdie on the second hole, and Inserra birdied the sixth.
Berry got to the turn at 1-over par, but he quickly got into red numbers for the day with an eagle two on the 406-yard, par-4 10
th hole. He followed that by getting into a tie for the lead late in the round with birdies at 14 and 15.
He bogeyed the 16
th hole, but he drew even again with Pizzano and Tall with a birdie on 17. He slipped back to third, however, with a double bogey on the 18
th hole.
Pizzano was 1-under through nine, but he fell back to 1-over with bogeys at the 12
th and 13
th holes. He wrapped a pair of birdies on the 15
th and 17
th holes around a bogey on the 16
th to finish even.
The Loyola junior and Tall went to a playoff on the 18
th. Pizzano's chip from the fringe for birdie slid just past the hole, and Tall rolled in a putt for birdie to take medalist honors.
Loyola will find out its destination for the NCAA Regionals with the 2022 NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, May 4, at 4 p.m. (EDT) on the GOLF Channel. The Greyhounds will head to one of the six regional sites: Traditions Club (Bryan, Texas), Ohio State Golf Club (Columbus, Ohio), Yale Golf Club (New Haven, Conn.), PGA National Resort Champions Course (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), The Reserve at Spanos Park (Stockton, Calif.) and Jimmie Austin Golf Club (Normal, Okla.).