WARREN, OHIO - On Wednesday, May 24th, the Sonoma State men's golf team battled through a tough third round but maintained their spot inside the top eight, allowing them to advance to match play starting on Thursday in the NCAA National Championship. 

The Seawolves fell two spots today after an 8-over team round but left the course with some great signs heading into match play on Thursday. Senior Griffin Pace and sophomore Colin Huang, arguably two of the team's best golfers, combined for a 7-under performance to keep the Seawolves inside the top eight as they broke out for their best rounds of the tournament. Pace led the charge with a 68 (-4) which seems to be his lucky score as of late after recording three straight 68's in the regional tournament two weeks prior. A bogey free round would be highlighted with a team high four birdies, three of which came on the front nine. 

Huang would also record a bogey free round and finish just one birdie shy of Pace for a 69 (-3). Both players would make giant leaps on the individual leaderboard as well, climbing inside the top-20 to represent SSU. 

Some additional highlights for the Seawolves after three rounds of play included sophomore Alec Padilla who started the tournament 6-under-par after the first two rounds, putting himself inside the top ten on the individual leaderboard. Despite struggling today, Padilla has shown signs of greatness over the past couple weeks and put the Seawolves in a great spot after the first two rounds. Senior Jules Lavigne also put together a first round of even par on Monday to contribute to SSU's 292 team score. 

The team's most consistent round came on Tuesday as they shaved off five strokes with much more solid play from their entire lineup. Padilla's 4-under performance led the way but Pace, Huang and Lavigne would all combine to shoot just 3-over and jump Sonoma State into the top five and in great position for the final round. Despite things getting a little hairy at the end round three, Pace, Padilla and Huang would finish with pars on their final three holes to hang on to the 7th spot on the leaderboard. 

As a result, Sonoma State will take on the two seed in Barry University tomorrow morning. Both teams will duke it out in one-on-one match play with the winner advancing to the semifinals later that afternoon. Since the addition of match play at the NCAA National Championships, this will go down as the program's first appearance in this format. They will look to advance to the semifinals and record their best NCAA finish since 2010. Live scoring can be found HERE and additional information can be found on the Tournament Central page provided by the Mountain East conference. 

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