The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) golf postseason accolades have been announced and Saint Joseph's College Head Coach Jason Riley has been selected as the GNAC Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season.
Riley, now in his fourth year at the helm for St. Joe's, guided the Monks to their third GNAC Championship in the last six years as the team posted a 626 (324-302) card to claim the 2022 crown at Biddeford-Saco Country Club on October 10th and 11th.
With the win, the Monks earned the league's automatic qualifier to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament, which will be played at the Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky starting on May 16th.
A pair of Saint Joseph's players earned All-Conference honors by virtue of their top-five finish in the GNAC Championship. Sophomore Drew Mathieu (Windham, Maine) repeated as the GNAC medalist, firing a round two 69 (-2) to best his teammate, senior Trevor Flanagan (Monmouth, Maine), by one stroke in the tournament total at 149 (80-69).
Mathieu tied the GNAC Championship Day 2 low-round record, matching Patrick Ford (Rhode Island College) who carded a 69 in 2014 at Ponkapoag Golf Course. The sophomore was two under on the front nine with four birdies and even on the back side with two more birds to help the Monks coast to the repeat.
Mathieu is the first player in GNAC Golf history to repeat as the medalist in back-to-back seasons and just the second player to win a pair of GNAC top finishes. Tom Sheran is the only other player to accomplish the feat after having won the 2015 and 2018 medalist honors while playing for Rhode Island College and UMass.-Dartmouth, respectively.
In four years under Coach Riley's watch, the SJC men's golf program has become the team to beat in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. In his first season (2019), Saint Joseph's served as the tournament host at the Biddeford-Saco Country Club and the Monks placed third with a 633 score. Due to the pandemic, the 2020-21 championship was held in the spring and St. Joe's finished as the runner-up with a 343 single-round card. Last fall, Saint Joseph's the Royal Blue posted a 646 (330-316) card to claim the 2021 title at the New Haven Country Club and the 2022 GNAC Championship gives the Monks consecutive titles for the first time in program history.
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