Richard Dowling shot a final round 71 to rally from a five-stroke deficit to become the first individual champion of the year for the Fairfield University men's golf team.  Dowling's effort helped the Stags to a second-place finish at the Mount St. Mary's Spring Invitational, the squad's final tune-up for the upcoming Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship.

After shooting an opening round 70 on Monday, Dowling was three strokes clear of the field.  Ryan Prokay, of team champion Robert Morris, shot a –2 69 in the second round to overtake Dowling after 36 holes.  Dowling, who was tied for third entering the final round, shot one-under, 71, on Tuesday, to post a 54-hole score of 218, two strokes clear of runner up Ryan Trill, of the host.

Nick Taylor also moved up the leader board in the final round, shooting a -1, 71 as well, to move to fifth place, from eighth, with a three-round score of 222.  Eric Johnson equaled his best round of the event, shooting 75, to move up three spots and finished 11^th at 230.

Scott Rainaud was two strokes back of Johnson, shooting a 79 on Tuesday, to finish in 12^th place.  Joseph Macaluso shot a 79 as well and finished 15^th with a 54-hole score of 235.  Rounding out the Stags effort was Joseph Patalano who carded an 82 for a three-day 242 and a 23^rd place tie.

As a team, the Stags shot a three-day score of 900, 13 strokes off team champion Robert Morris.

The Stags travel to Disney's Magnolia Golf Course April 27-29 for the 54-hole MAAC Championship.