LIGONIER, Pa. – Penn State Altoona men's golf traveled to one of the country's premier golf clubs, Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, to take on Westminster College in the program's first-ever match play competition, The Hite Cup.

The Lions dropped a closely contested match 4.5-2.5 despite a dominating effort from sophomore Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union), who defeated Jonny Stuckert, 5 and 4. Heffelfinger jumped out to an early 4 up lead in the first seven holes and never looked back.

"Trey wasn't intimidated by the history and mystique of the Laurel Valley. He attacked the course and had a strong short game today," Lions head coach Tom Koehle said. "I am confident this will propel Trey to continued success heading into our home match this weekend, and into the rest of our schedule."

Two Lion freshmen earned points as well. Jacob Carlin (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) finished his round winning the par four seventh hole for a 1 up win over John Popa. Logan Divald (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) tied Westminster's Cal Cummins to earn a half point for the Lions.

"Jacob was determined to get a point for the team when the final result was still very much undecided.  Logan had a nice lead and Cal's good play led to just getting a half point in the three spot," Koehle said.

In other matches, Westminster's Michael Bell defeated Andrew Ferguson (Altoona, PA/Tyrone) 2 and 1 in a back-and-forth match where neither player ever held more than a 2 up lead. Sam Napper of Westminster won the final hole to defeat Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park). Iain Murphy-Herndon (Oldsmar, FL/Saddlebrook Prep) and Nathan Graham (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) made their collegiate debuts for the Lions, but both fell to their Westminster opponents. 

"This was our first-ever match play event in program history, and the fun and frustration of match play is that one or two shots can swing the day for or against you," Koehle added. "If we flip any one of three matches, it could have been a different outcome. Hats off to Coach Torrence and Westminster. He has an experienced squad, they are receiving votes in the national polls, and are fresh off a PAC Championship and a ninth-place finish at NCAAs. To run five freshmen out there and watch our guys play shot for shot with that good of a squad gives us plenty of reason for optimism as our season heats up."

The day was made possible by Penn State Altoona and Westminster benefactor Lee Hite.

"Mr. Hite's generosity and openness to hosting his alma mater, Westminster, and hometown college, Penn State Altoona, at such an historic venue will pay long term dividends for our program. It was a friendly match, but it is experiences like this that will set our programs apart from many others at the Division III level," Koehle said. "We are so grateful that Mr. Hite recognizes this and encourages others to help elevate our teams. No doubt this is a great recruiting tool and will help us land higher level recruits moving forward, as it did this year."

The Lions return to action this Friday and Saturday as they co-host the Mountain Valley Collegiate Classic along with Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference neighbor, Mount Aloysius College. Tee times begin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 17 at Sinking Valley Country Club, followed by a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start at Summit Country Club in nearby Cresson on Saturday, September 18.