From left are, Khubaib Rafi, Eli Cervantes, Mason Gibbons, Dawson Tempke, Nate Zilles and Maddox Tran. The Lancers took fifth place during a recent Metro League match at River Oaks Golf Course in Nicolaus, CA. Photo courtesy of Head Coach Brian Botsford

NICOLAUS, CA (MPG) - The Cordova Lancers recently took part in the first Metro League tournament of the season at River Oaks Golf Course in Nicolaus, CA on Tuesday, March 24. The team shot a combined score of 488, which resulted in a fifth-place finish.

West Park took first place in the event with a match-best 371. McClatchy (436), Antelope (467) and Kennedy (481) rounded out the rest. For Lancers’ head coach Brian Botsford, it wasn’t the outing he expected.

“I was disappointed,” Lancer’s head coach Brian Botsford said. “We’ve been working hard. We’re going to keep working hard and make the second Metro League championship match hopefully better.”

The top performer for Cordova on the day was sophomore Eli Cervantes, who shot an 83 on what proved to be a challenging course for the group on that day. Cervantes was roughly 20 shots better on the course than he was a year ago, showing marked improvement by the Lancers' standout underclassman. Senior Dawson Tempke shot a 94 for Cordova as the next lowest score.

Moving forward, the Lancers will continue their hard work as they approach the second Metro League tournament on April 28, which will also be played at River Oaks. Cordova is on the outside looking in when it comes to being one of the top two teams to qualify for postseason action, but they still have a great shot at qualifying individuals to advance as the next top six individual players within the Metro League will be selected to move on. Cervantes has an excellent shot at accomplishing that feat according to Botsford, however much is yet to be determined.

The Lancers’ next match will be against West Park, which will be held at Mather Golf Course on Thursday, April 16 at 3 p.m.