Fifth-ranked Ospreys are making a run at a national title
The UNF men’s golf team will be in action Feb. 11-12, when they will travel to Gainesville
to compete in the SunTrust Gator Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida.
As a team, UNF hopes to continue its early success as the season continues.
The team is exceeding all expectations this season as it continues its remarkable early-season performance.
“Our goal, as a team, is to contend to win at every tournament and make it to match-play at
Nationals,” Senior Joe Byun said.
The men’s team hasn’t finished lower than 3rd in a tournament this season and has finished 1st in four events.
Ranked 5th in the most recent poll by GolfWeek.com, the Ospreys hold a commanding lead in the Atlantic Sun in the rankings. Kennesaw State, the second-highest ranked team in the A-Sun, is ranked 35th. In November, Golf Week had three Ospreys ranked among the top 50 individuals, including Sean Dale at 9th. Dale has top-ten finishes in all four events thus far in the season.
North Florida most recently played in the Sea Best Invitational at The Players Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Jan. 30 and Jan. 31. The Ospreys finished third out of 13 teams, the 3rd occurrence of a 3rd place finish in five events. In the other two events, UNF yielded 1st place finishes.
Senior Kevin Aylwin led the Ospreys by shooting a two-under-par, 70 in the final round of the Sea Best Invitational to finish with a three-over-par 219 total and tied for 4th place.
Unfortunately for the Ospreys, Junior Sean Dale was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.
Zach Morgan, Contributing Writer
UNF wrestling heads to the capitol to finish off regular season
The UNF wrestling team will travel to Tallahassee for the Seminole/Rattler Duals and Invitational Feb. 10-11 for the last tournament of the regular season.
In its last event, the team took 4th out of 11 teams Feb. 4 in the Classic City Invitational hosted by the University of Georgia. The team was led by freshman Chad Baumann, who won three straight en route to winning the 141 pound weight class and brought his record to 21-4 for the season.
Junior Zach Lebovic added a 3rd place finish for UNF in the 133 pound weight class and Malik Bolton added his own 3rd place finish in the 157 pound weight class.
The Seminole/Rattler Duals and Invitational will be the last chance for the Ospreys to practice before heading to Orlando Feb. 25 for the Southeast Conference Championships.
Jordan Harirchi, Assistant Sports Editor
Rugby continues strong play headed into end of season
UNF rugby will travel to Miami Feb. 11 to play the University of Miami in a conference showdown.
The Ospreys trounced the Hurricanes Feb. 4, dominating on both ends of the field on their way to a 41-7 victory. UNF continued its success from the Feb. 4 UM game by crushing the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles Feb. 5, 52-7.
UNF is 5-0 and in first place in the South conference of Division III. This is the team’s first year of Division III play.
Men’s tennis takes on 2 former national champions
The UNF men’s tennis team (2-1, 0-0) will defend its home court Feb. 10-12 as it hosts two non-conference opponents.
UNF will host Barry University (2-0) Feb. 10. Barry finished in second place last season in the Division II national championship. In 2010, the team won the whole thing.
After the Barry match, the Ospreys will host Armstrong Atlantic State (2-0) Feb. 12. The Pirates won the Division II national championship in 2008 and 2009. They have started the season off strong, dominating their first two games of the year.
UNF was ranked No. 75 in the Feb. 2 Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings but has dropped out of the top 75 in the most recent poll.
The team has won its last two matches after losing its first match of the season to Florida State University.
Lacrosse looks to net first win of the season at home
UNF lacrosse is still searching for its first win of the season after being blown out in its first two games.
The Ospreys will host the Savannah College of Art and Design Feb.11 at 1 p.m. This will be the first game of the season for SCAD and the Ospreys’ first conference game.
UNF lost to SCAD last season 13-6, but the game was played in Savannah, unlike the match-up this weekend.
The team struggled in its first game of the season against the University of Central Florida. The Knights destroyed UNF Jan. 28, 32-6. UNF had a stronger game the next day, Jan. 29, against the University of South Florida, but the team still couldn’t come away with a win and lost to the Bulls 13-6.
Josh Brannock, Sports Editor
Email Zach, Jordan and Josh at sports@unfspinnaker.com.
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