New conference, same result.
The University of Arkansas-Little Rock men's golf team completed its romp through the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Wednesday, taking out Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at Dalhousie Country Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
The Trojans' 4-1 win in the best-of-five match-play final secured their second conference title in as many years and clinched a third straight trip to an NCAA regional.
Top-seeded UALR -- after finishing 25 shots ahead of the No. 2 seed Cougars over 54 holes of stroke play Sunday through Tuesday -- handled fourth-seeded Lindenwood in Wednesday morning's semifinals, winning 4-0-1 to advance to the championship match in UALR's first season as an Ohio Valley member after more than three decades in the Sun Belt Conference.
"It's a huge sense of accomplishment," Trojans Coach Jake Harrington told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Wednesday night. "It's been a roller-coaster ride to say the least in the spring -- and honestly, probably a wooden roller coaster.
"Once we feel like we get going, another injury pops up. ... I just want this team healthy because this team is so special."
UALR won two tournaments in the fall with a runner-up finish in between, then began the spring with another win in Las Vegas before consecutive second-place finishes to start March.
But then the injury bug bit, first with some neck pain for senior Anton Albers, then a wrist injury to Matteo Cristoni when his club smacked into a tree root during a round. Cristoni, an Italian sophomore who led the Trojans with a 71.88 stroke average going into this week, was unavailable for UALR this week.
Although Albers continued to play through injury, both he and the Trojans struggled. Albers posted sub-40 finishes and UALR ended in the bottom half of the field in its previous two events.
That changed at the Ohio Valley Tournament. Albers ran away with individual medalist honors, finishing stroke play at 11-under par 205, five shots clear of the field.
He then grabbed the clinching point in the match play final with a 3-and-2 win after sitting out the morning session. Harrington said some more soreness cropped up in a pre-tournament practice round, so the Trojans opted to have Albers play just 18 holes Wednesday rather than 36.
"He's the ultimate competitor. He wants to be there for his team," Harrington said of Albers. "This week, people probably thought, 'Man, this guy's finishing every shot one-handed.' He literally couldn't follow through and keep both hands on the club.
"But this is extremely rewarding for him. I don't know if it's sunk in what he's done."
With the win, UALR grabbed the Ohio Valley's automatic bid into one of six NCAA regionals. The Trojans will learn where they're headed next Wednesday afternoon, and they'll need to finish among the top five at their regional on May 15-17 to advance to the national finals at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 26-31.