By John Ostapowicz
Sunday, Feb. 6 was a big day for the Youngstown State University women’s golf team as it teed off on the green to start the spring season at the Mission Inn Resort’s Las Colinas Course in Florida to compete in the Motor City Cup.
The golf team was able to defeat the seventh-seeded Northern Kentucky University 4-2 during the opening match of the tournament. The team was able to advance to the semifinals championship bracket with the win.
In the victory over Northern Kentucky, junior Danae Rugola was a standout superstar on the green. She helped the golf team by earning an individual victory as well as going 1-0-1 in individual matches.
Other Penguin individual standouts included freshman Lizzie Saur going 2-0, junior Christian Lewis 1-1 and senior Victoria Gräns 2-0.
In the semifinals, the Penguins lost the contest to the third-seeded University of Wisconsin-Green Bay 3-2-1. Green Bay was able to earn three individual victories in the match to beat Youngstown State.
Saur earned a 3-1 victory for the Penguins while Gräns and Rugola each tied in their matches. The team finished 1-1 on the first day of tournament play.
Despite the loss, the team placed third, where it would face the fourth-seeded Oakland University on the second day of the tournament.
Monday, Feb. 7 started off with a heartbreaking loss to Oakland to finish fourth place at the Motor City Cup match play event. The second-seeded Penguins dropped a 4-2 decision to the fourth-seeded Golden Grizzlies in the third-place match.
The Penguins finished fourth in the match with a 1-2 overall record. Lewis and senior Tori Utrup each earned individual victories.
Rugola, Saur, Gräns and sophomore Madie Smithco each dropped their individual head-to-head matches on Monday. However, Lewis and Saur were able to finish the event with a 2-1 record in individual matches.
Youngstown State will continue its spring schedule Monday, Feb. 28 through Tuesday, March 1 at the RiverTowne Invitational hosted by Charleston Southern at RiverTowne Country Club in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
