SALEM, Mass. - After one day of action at the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship, the Endicott men's golf team currently sits in second place. The two-day championship, which is comprised of four teams that include Nichols, Roger Williams and Western New England, will conclude on Sunday with the first group set to tee off at 1:15 PM.
After 18 holes, Western New England stands atop the leaderboard with a team score of 289, 14 strokes ahead of Endicott's 303. The Golden Bears saw Joe Ciolek (South Hadley, Mass.) shoot a -1 round of 69 to lead the field by two strokes.
The Gulls were led by senior Ben Palazzo (Farmington, Conn.) who fired an opening round 73. Fellow senior Athan Goulos (Peabody, Mass.) tied with Drew Benshoff (Concord, Mass.) with rounds of 76 to finish the round in 7th, while Carter Knox (Hinesburg, Vt.) and Christopher Billings (Portland, Maine) closed out the scoring with rounds of 78 and 79.
Roger Williams finished in third place on day one with Joshua Unkrich (Bristol, Conn.) leading the way with a round of 74, while Nichols finished in fourth with three players tying for the team lead with rounds of 79.
The Gulls will be in search of their second straight CCC title on Sunday after having claimed the championship during the 2016-17 season.