March 25, 2009
LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. - Monday afternoon brought cold and windy conditions to the Philadelphia area on a day when Villanova took to the links against three other local teams at Philadelphia University. At the par-72 Ace Club, the Wildcats had all five of their players finish in the top seven and the team posted a score of 306 to easily outdistance Widener, La Salle and the host Rams.
Senior Andrew Alexander (Rochester, Minn.) continued the momentum from his strong finish during a weekend tournament in Delaware and led all players with a round of 73. Alexander had cut 15 strokes off his score from the first to second round over the weekend and came through with another successful outing on Monday in a field of 14 individuals. Alexander came in one stroke ahead of Mike Benezingo of La Salle.
Villanova placed senior Paul Sjoberg (Thief River Falls, Minn.) and sophomore Joe Bernard (Malvern, Pa.) third and fourth, respectively. Sjoberg carded a 76 and Bernard a 77 for the Wildcats, who recorded three of the four scores below an 80 for the day.
The freshmen duo of Brian Colbert (Cary, Ill.) and Eddie Ryan (Winchester, Mass.) tied for fifth and seventh place, respectively. Colbert posted a score of 80 and Ryan came in with an 84 to round out the Villanova scores for the afternoon.
Among the other schools in competition, Widener finished with a team score of 340 to come in ahead of La Salle (341) and Philadelphia University (357). Steve Sieracki (La Salle) and Bill Vogt (Widener) rounded out the top five in the individual field.
In a span of five days, the Wildcats competed at the George Washington Invite in Delaware, the local round at the Ace Club and the William & Mary Invitational in Williamsburg, Va.
