MIDDLEFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's golf team stands in first place after the first round of the ECAC Championships at Lyman Orchards this afternoon. The Stags shot a collective score of 288.

Senior Patrick Lynch paced the Stags, carding a 69 (-3) to finish first out of all the individuals. Just two strokes behind, with a 71 (-1), was Steve Burak who stands in third place overall.  

Both freshman Eric Austin and sophomore Conner Beakey shot first round scores of 74 (+2) to tie for eighth place overall with three other competitors. Rounding out play for the Stags was Ricky Dowling, who carded a 75 (+3) to tie for 13th place with two other competitors.

Fairfield sits atop the team leaderboard after posting a score of 288. The University of Rhode Island is currently in second with a 292 (+4). Iona is third with a 298 (+10) while Saint Peter's is a close fourth, totaling a score of 300. Rider stands in fifth place with a score of 312 while Saint Francis (N.Y.) trails in sixth with a 370.

Fairfield will compete in the second and final round of the ECAC Championships tomorrow. The Stags' earliest tee time is 9:15am.