KEENE, N.H. – Sophomore Taylor Miller answered a hole-in-one by New England College's Cameron Sheedy by posting an eagle on his 18th and final hole to make some Keene State College history on Tuesday, finishing with the best round and first under-par round in the history of the young men's golf program as 11 Owls competed at the Keene State Invitational at the Keene Country Club on Tuesday.

Taylor Miller Interview
Coach Timmer Interview

Miller, who entered the day as the defending event champion from a season ago when he finished with a 73, successfully defended his crown by edging Sheedy by one stroke in what turned into an incredible finish between the two at the top of the leaderboard.  Sheedy birdied No. 13 and No. 14 to put pressure on Miller despite the Owl sophomore and Stoddard native parring six of the first eight holes on the back nine.  Sheedy eventually briefly took the lead with an ace on the par-3 17th to move ahead of Miller by one stroke after trailing by one entering the hole, but Miller hit back in a big way, bringing his stellar round home with an eagle.  Battling a nagging injury for some of the season, it was a big boost for the still-young Owl, who has shot in the 70s in eight of his 13 career rounds including posting a career-best 73 twice last season including on his home course.  He bettered that this year in his first action in 15 days, getting off to a strong start as he compiled a 34 (-1) on the front nine that included two birdies and six pars.

Keene State's first group of five wound up finishing with a 309 as a team, totaling six birdies and Miller's eagle.  Freshman Cole Madden (two birdies) finished with a 79, while Sean Bonneau and Aidan Davis each recorded an 80.  Davis parred seven consecutive holes on the back nine to grind and remain within the scoring group.  Ben Fecteau finished with an 85.

KSC placed third among the eight teams (with the Owls and Gordon College playing with two entrants), four strokes behind a strong effort from Gordon's "B" team that included a pair of under-par back nines.  New England College won the team event with a 301, with Emil Elias' four birdies on the back nine including three straight from No. 15 through No. 17, proving to be a huge difference-maker in his round of 72.  Aiden Boule finished with a 76 to ensure the Pilgrims', who won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference last season, victory.

The Owls got more strong efforts from their younger contingent in the second group of five, with freshman Ben Peters finishing with four birdies including three on the back nine, to finish with a 77 (T-13th individually).  Junior transfer Matthew Canavan had a pair of birdies while adding a 79 while first year Braeden Dion had four birdies and also finished with the same score.  Justin Prim added an 81 to the scoring group, while Matt Bryant had an 84 and Ryan Hebert, playing as an individual, carded an 84.

KSC's second group of five and Hebert combined for 13 birdies on the day, and the Owls overall had 19 across their 11 participants.  The "B" group, although they finished seventh as a team in the tightly-packed field, finished with a 316.

NEC's team championship was fueled by nine birdies combined by their four scorers on the back nine holes.

Keene State returns to action this Sunday (October 4) at the USM Husky Invitational, which will be their last event prior to the Little East Conference championship October 13 and October 14 at the Shennecossett Golf Course in Groton, Conn.