Women's Golf Preseason Favorite; Men's Golf Picked Second in Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll

3/1/07– The Long Island University women's golf team has been chosen as the preseason favorite to win the Northeast Conference Championship in 2007, according to a poll of the league's coaches. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

The Blackbirds garnered six-of-10 first-place votes and are coming off a 2006 season in which they finished second at the NEC Championships. The team is lead by last season's NEC Rookie of the Year Natalie Desjardins (Haileybury, Ontario). She finished her inaugural campaign with six top-ten finishes and added three more this past fall season.

Two-time all-conference selection Erica Chong (Hilo, Hawaii) also returns to help LIU capture the league title for the second time in three years. The two-sport athlete helped lead the women's soccer team to the NCAA College Cup in the fall and will look to take that championship experience to the links this spring.

On the men's side, Long Island was picked to finish second behind Central Connecticut State. The Blue Devils picked up five first-place ballots while St. Francis (Pa.) received the remaining three and was chosen third.

Seniors Matt Wilson (Toronto, Ontario) and Patrick Kelly (Brisbane, Australia) will look to improve on their third-place finish a year ago at the NEC Championships. Wilson finished in a tie for second at last year's championship to receive all-league accolades while Kelly had three top-ten's this fall.

The men's and women's golf teams will open their seasons in South Carolina on Mar. 11-18. The men's team will host the Lonnie Barton Invitational on Mar. 11-13 before competing with the women's team at the Fairfield Invitational on Mar. 15-18.