BRADFORD, Pa. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's golf team will begin its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship title defense Saturday as it opens its season hosting the annual Pitt-Bradford Invitational at Pennhills Golf Club Saturday.
Pitt-Bradford is guided by four-time and back-to-back AMCC Coach of the Year Keith Stauffer, who is entering his 18th season at the helm of the Panthers golf program.
A season ago, Pitt-Bradford captured the program's third conference championship and the first since the Panthers won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. With the victory, Pitt-Bradford earned a bid to the NCAA Championships.
"Our goals are similar to last year's," Stauffer said. "We would like to get off to a good start and win our home tournament. It's always a good barometer to see where we stand at the beginning of the year. We want to compete in all tournaments, break the all-time team scoring record and repeat as AMCC champions."
During the championships, the Panthers began the second day of the two-day event in a tie with Pitt-Greensburg for second place with a score of 320.
Penn State-Altoona entered the day with a two-stroke lead at 318. Pitt-Bradford cut 14 strokes from its day-one performance on the second day, firing a 306 to secure a comfortable conference title with a combined score of 626 -- nine strokes ahead of the AMCC Runner-Up Penn State-Behrend (635).
Pitt-Bradford's Johnny Fiore finished as the AMCC Championships' Individual Medalist, the first in school history. He finished the first day tied for the lead atop the conference with a 74 and secured the individual medal with a 72 Monday for a combined score of 146. His combined score was just two strokes over par for the event and four strokes better than the second-place finisher Chuck Panepinto from Medaille (150).
In addition to Fiore, Cary Ignaczak, Matt Moonan and Cooper Cordova earned All-AMCC status.
Cordova took third place overall with a score of 153 at the Conference Championships, earning a spot on the AMCC All-Tournament Team.
Also, a regular part of the Panther lineup was Jamie Rook, who took 25th overall in the AMCC Championship with a combined score of 168.
Four of the five members of the championship lineup -- Ignaczak, Moonan, Cordova and Rook -- as well as Jarod Chaffee and Sam Marchini, return for the 2019-20 season, looking to take the program to new heights with six returners.
Nick Mole, a junior transfer, joins the experienced squad as the lone newcomer.
"We are a close-knit team," Stauffer said. "We all care about each other and root for each other. There is absolutely no animosity among the players. We challenge each other but in a good way. The sky is the limit for this team. They know what it takes to get to the next level."
Saturday's tournament will be the Panthers' lone home action of the season, as 15 teams come to Pennhills for the Pitt-Bradford Invitational.
The teams include Grove City, Thiel, Westminster (two teams), Hobart, Penn State-Fayette, Elmira, LaRoche, Behrend (two teams), Pitt-Greensburg, Hilbert, Medaille, D'Youville and Mount Aloysius.
Saturday's event is set for a 1 p.m. tee off.
