Women's Golf Finishes Second At MAC Match Play

Tuesday, February 8

Lakewood Ranch, Fla. / Lakewood Ranch G&CC

TBA

Central Michigan University

MAC Match Play Challenge

Photo by: Andy Sneddon

2/8/2022 7:06:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – The Central Michigan women's golf team dropped a 3-2 decision to Illinois State on Tuesday in the championship match of the Mid-American Conference Match Play Challenge at Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club.

It was the first time the Chippewas have reached the title match in the annual spring-season opener since the program's resurrection in 2014-15.

CMU, which defeated Akron, 3-2, in a Tuesday morning semifinal match, was the No. 1 seed in the 12-team event. Illinois State was the third seed.

"We played as hard as we could," CMU coach Jim Earle said. "We just ran into a few buzzsaws. That's a pretty good team in Illinois State and they deserved to win. We just came out a couple holes short; they made a couple more putts than we did and that's what it boiled down to.

"To think of the history of the program and where it's come from. We went from never winning a match to being the No. 1 seed and making it all the way to the final. That's something to hang your hat on. I think it's exciting for us moving forward."

CMU's wins against Illinois State came from Ashley Goh and Casilda Allendesalazar. Goh defeated Avalon Woodward, 3 and 2, and Allendesalazar downed Maria Toledo Bailey, 2 and 1. Neither Goh nor Allendesalazar trailed in either match.

CMU's Claudia Salvador dropped a 3 and 1 decision to Kehler Koss. Koss won hole No. 11 to go 1-up and then increased her advantage to 2-up by taking No. 14. She closed it out by winning No. 17 with a par.

The Chippewas' Rachel Kauflin lost, 7 and 6, to Kira Wolf, and Padgett Chitty dropped a 5 and 3 decision to Ali Schrock.

CMU advanced to the final in dramatic fashion as Chitty won, 1-up, over Akron's Jessica Hahn with a birdie on No. 18 in the last match out.

Goh defeated Riley Dean, 4 and 3, and Salvador downed Jacinta Pikunas, 2 and 1. Kauflin dropped a 3 and 2 decision to Ivana Shah and Allendesalazar fell, 5 and 4, to Jennifer David.

Chitty, a sophomore, came back from 2-down on the front nine to go 1-up with a par on the 15^th hole and then held that advantage to the end. Her hybrid from 205 yards left her 7 feet for eagle on the 18th. Hahn birdied the hole.

Chitty "had a downhill slider (for eagle) that was pretty slick, and she hit a great lag putt" that left her with a tap-in for birdie and the win, Earle said.

"That match against Akron was just phenomenal," he said. "I think it was as exciting a match play match as I've ever been a part of."

Goh won all three of her matches in the event in dominant fashion. She played a total of 45 holes and held the lead for 37 of them and never trailed.

"Ashley Goh makes a ton of birdies," Earle said. "She's as consistent as it gets. She's a tough competitor for anybody. She played some opponents that were playing some really good golf and she just played better than anybody she faced. She's definitely the MVP of the week for us."