Team Scoring Final

San Marcos, CA - The Urban Knights finished up day one tied for first place, and came out in the second round of the Lady Cougar Invitational unwilling to let go of the lead, triumphing in the final day to win their first tournament of 2012. The Knights held off host Cal State San Marcos, firing a 316 as a team to end up three strokes ahead of the Cougars at Twin Oaks Golf Course in San Marco, CA. Crystal Superal started the day tied for second, and never relinquished that spot, following her day yesterday with another 77 (+5) to finish in second place overall.

"I think it was a great win for us," said head coach Cheryl Lala. "We had a team meeting last night after tying for first, and we talked about playing your own game. Don't think about anyone else. Stay in your own zone. Don't concentrate on winning, just playing your game. I think we did that, and it paid off."

Lyra Yoe jumped up three places after she shaved three strokes off her first round score, also finishing with a 77 to go from seventh overall to fourth, right behind her teammate. Andrea Nieto also improved a stroke on her round one score, finishing with a 79 on Tuesday to end the tournament tied for seventh place overall. Mariana Pazos shot two rounds of 83 (+11) to end up in sole possession of 12th place, and Melissa Genao improved by four strokes in the final round to finish in the 24th position.

"Our goal is to get everyone under 80, and we got really close to that today," Lala said. "As an average, we averaged under 80, and we won. We wanted everyone to improve, and everyone either improved or stayed the same. That's really good."

The Knights were able to stave off Cal State San Marcos, who improved on Monday's score as well, just not enough as Academy of Art. ART U ended with a total score of 636, three strokes ahead of San Marcos (639). Concordia (647), Point Loma Nazarene (682), and University of Redlands (706) rounded out the top five. Sunny Powers led for both days of the tournament, posting a 76 on Monday and a 77 on Tuesday to finish with a total score of 153 (+9). 

"It's a good first step. It feels good to have a trophy, and have an award in your hands," said Lala. "It gets us used to winning. That's something that I want, and that's something that they want too."