AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team grabbed a lead less than two minutes into Saturday's match against Florida Memorial University, and led nearly wire-to-wire in a 2-1 victory over the visiting Lions at AMU Soccer Field. The victory kept the Gyrenes undefeated at home this season, with one win and one draw.

Just 93 seconds into the match, Alejandro Echeverria found the back of the net on the first shot of the game for either team. It was the first goal of the season for the senior forward, and provided the Gyrenes with their first lead of the season.

Ave Maria's 1-0 lead would remain intact for the remainder of the first half. The Gyrenes then put another goal on the board early in a half, striking less than four minutes into the second frame. Freshman Kensley Jean Baptiste beat an FMU defender to set himself up with a break-away and finished for his second goal of the campaign in the 49th minute.

Trailing 2-0, Florida Memorial got back within one in the 83rd minute. Ivan Jelic scored with less than eight minutes to play on an assist from Joel Mejia, trimming the Ave Maria lead to 2-1. Florida Memorial threatened again in the 86th minute, but Andrea Salomone recorded the last of his five saves on the afternoon to secure the Ave Maria victory. 

Saturday's game proved to be hotly contested, as the two teams combined to commit 29 fouls and saw nine yellow cards handed out. Florida Memorial outshot Ave Maria, 12-8, but the Gyrenes put one more shot on goal, 7-6. Salomone and FMU counterpart Frederman Mendoza combined to save ten of the 13 shots that were put on goal.

With the win over Florida Memorial, the Gyrenes snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Lions, which dated back to the dawn of the program. The win was Ave Maria's first against another Sun Conference program since a 2-1 victory over Johnson and Wales on September 26, 2012. Saturday's match was officially a non-conference affair, with the conference match scheduled for October 14 in Miami Gardens.

Ave Maria, who boasts a 1-1-1 record through the first three games of the season, is back at home on Monday afternoon. Florida National University comes to Ave Maria for a match that is scheduled to kick off at 1:00 p.m. at AMU Soccer Field.