KEENE, N.H. – Freshmen Jaden Poirier (White River Junction, Vt./Hartford) and Owen Moore (Pittsfield, Maine/Maine Central Institute) placed second and third overall to help lead the University of Southern Maine to the program's first Little East Conference Men's Golf Championship on Thursday at Keene Country Club. The Huskies beat out Eastern Connecticut State University by three strokes to earn the conference title. This marks the second conference title for the Huskies, who won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship in 2019.
 
The Huskies shot a 315 (+31) as a team in today's round after a recording-breaking score of 282 (-2) yesterday for a total score of 597 (+29). Eastern Connecticut had a score of 600 (+32) and Western Connecticut State University placed third with a score of 630 (+62).  Eastern Connecticut had the best round of the day with a 303 (+19) led by individual conference championship Ethan McDaniel's three-under par 63, but Southern Maine's historic first round proved to be too much to overcome. McDaniel was named the medalist with a two-day score of 139 (-3).
 
Poirier shot seven-over par 78 to bring his two-day total to even-par 142. Moore shot one-over par with a 72 for the second-best score of the second round. He matched his first-round score for a two-day score of 144 (+2). Both players earned First Team All-LEC honors by placing in the top five. Freshman Alex Fournier (Augusta, Maine/Cony) finished ninth with a two-day score of 155 (+13) to earn a spot on the second team.
 
Freshman Taylor Farr (Gorham, Maine) tied for 11th with a score of 158 (+16) while classmate Alex Grant tied for 14th with a 159 (+7).
 
The Huskies have now earned the conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship, which will be hosted by St. John Fisher University and the Rochester NY Sports Commission from May 20-23 at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, N.Y.
 
On the Course:

• Poirier shot par on eight holes and had birdies on the second and 16th holes.
• Moore shot two-under par 33 on the front nine thanks to birdies on the second and sixth holes. He also added a birdie on the 13th hole. He had 11 pars in his round.
• Fournier carded an 80 (+9) in the second round to add to his 75 (+4) in round one. His lone birdie of the round came on the 15th hole.
• Farr fired an 85 (+14) in today's round and shot par on eight holes.
• Grant had an 86 (+15) in today's round after shooting a 73 (+2) in the first round.

 
Team Scores:

1. Southern Maine (597, +29)
2. Eastern Connecticut (600, +32)
3. Western Connecticut (630, +62)
4. VTSU Castleton (646, +78)
5. Keene State (652, +84)
6. Rhode Island College (656, +88) 

 
Up Next:
The Huskies have two more events left on their fall schedule. Their next event is the Monks Invitational at Point Sebago Golf Course on Sunday at 1:00 pm and they will wrap up the fall at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship on October 19-20.