Reading, Pa. (Oct. 8, 2015) - Alvernia University earned two and a half points in singles matches Thursday afternoon at Berkshire Country Club to claim the John Yocum Challenge Cup with a 5.5-3.5 win over Albright College.

Alvernia sophomore Cameron Cathcart earned a decisive 8&7 victory over Mike Schmittinger in Match #9 and Callum McCaslin finished off a 3&2 win over Vinny Marfisi.  Alvernia sophomore Keith Noonan and Albright freshman John Buliga decided to halve their match with both in the 18th fairway and the cup already decided.

Cathcart lost the first hole of the match, but answered back with five straight wins to take a 4-up lead through six holes.  Both players made double on the par 4 7th and Cathcart ran off four more wins on holes 8-11 to close the match.  It marks the first time in the 11 year history of the Yocum Cup a match ended on the 11th hole.

With Cathcart's point on the board--and the 3-0 lead from Wednesday's four ball matches--the Crusaders needed just one more point to win the match, but weren't up in any of the other five matches on the course.

McCaslin started his day with five straight 5s and found himself 2-down playing the par 3 6th.  He was able to get up and down for par from in front of the green while Marfisi missed a par putt.  McCaslin made winning pars on 7 and 8 to go 1-up, but Marfisi answered with a brilliant wedge into 9 to set up a short birdie that leveled the match through the first nine.

The two traded wins on 10 and 11 then both carded 4s on the par 5 12th.  Both were in the approach on 13 in two and McCaslin was able to chip up to eight feet while Marfisi went over the back with a bladed chip and made double.  McCaslin two-putted for bogey and the win then stuck a 70-yard approach to three feet for another win on 14 to go 2-up.  The Alvernia freshman made a nice up and down for bogey on 15 while Marfisi shortsided himself from the left rough and couldn't find the surface on a pair of chip attempts.

McCaslin--now 3-up with three to play--had a tough look in a greenside bunker at 16 that he could only advance in the bunker.  He stuck the next shot to six feet and rolled in the bogey which forced Marfisi to have to knock in his 5-footer to extend the match.  His putt slid past the hole and the Crusaders claimed the cup.

Albright picked up three match wins Thursday when Sam Ignatuk defeated Alvernia senior Brett Fernandes 3&2, Dalton Mecke defeated Tommy Godin 5&4, and Ben Foreman defeated Zach Stricker 4&2.

Fernandes was down two after Ignatuk birdied the par 3 6th, but answered with birdie at 7 and was 1-down at the turn.  Ignatuk dropped back to back birdies on 10 and 11 to go 3-up and closed out the match on 16 with his fifth birdie of the day.

Neither player in the Godin/Mecke match held more than a 1-up lead until Mecke won 9, 10, and 11 to go 4-up.  Godin was able to stem the tide with a winning birdie at 12, but Mecke parred 13 for a win then closed out the match on 14 when Godin found trouble off the tee.

Stricker went 4-down through five and struggled to put together back-to-back holes to cut the gap back to two, and Foreman closed the match with a bogey on 16.

Noonan went 3-down through three as Buliga played the first three holes in 2-under.  Noonan battled back to square the match with a birdie on 14.  Buliga went back up one with a par at 16, but Noonan's par on 17 leveled the match once again.  With both players in position in the fairway on 18 and the other five matches all complete, they decided to halve the final hole and the match.

Alvernia returns to action on Monday at the Muhlenberg Invitational and Lehigh Country Club and will host its own fall invite on Tuesday at LedgeRock.

Yocum Cup Day Two (Singles Matches) Berkshire Country Club
Match 4: Cameron Cathcart (Alv) def. Mike Schmittinger (Alb) 8&7
Match 5: Ben Foreman (Alb) def. Zach Stricker (Alv) 4&2
Match 6: Callum McCaslin (Alv) def. Vinny Marfisi (Alb) 3&2
Match 7: Dalton Mecke (Alb) def. Tommy Godin (Alv) 5&4
Match 8: Keith Noonan (Alv) halved John Buliga (Alb) AS
Match 9: Sam Ignatuk (Alb) def. Brett Fernandes (Alv) 3&2

Yocum Cup Day One (Four Ball Matches) LedgeRock Golf Club
Match 1: Brett Fernandes/Keith Noonan (Alv) def. Sam Ignatuk/John Bulgia (Alb) 3&2
Match 2: Tommy Godin/Callum McCaslin (Alv) def. Vinny Marfisi/Dalton Mecke (Alb) 2&1
Match 3: Lukas Murray/Zach Stricker (Alv) def. Ben Foreman/Tyler Stricker (Alb) 3&1