AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team sent out their senior class with a bang on Saturday night, closing their home schedule with a 5-1 victory over Florida Memorial University.
The seventh win of the season set a new program record, topping six-win campaigns in 2009 and 2011. It was also marked the biggest margin of victory for the Gyrenes in a conference match in school history. Before the game, AMU's five senior men's soccer players were recognized on Senior Night.
After nearly 25 minutes of scoreless action, the Gyrenes struck for the icebreaker in the 25th minute. On a free kick from 35 yards out, Kaveon Dux bounced the ball past FMU's defenders and goalkeeper, giving the Gyrenes a 1-0 lead. Just over eight minutes later, a perfect pass from John Gokey found the foot of Alex Wilcox, who beat the goalkeeper to account for his third goal of the season, giving AMU a 2-0 lead in the 33rd minute.
Another free kick led to Dux's second goal of the match in the final minute of the first half. In the 45th minute, Dux converted on a free kick from just outside the box, extending AMU's lead to 3-0. With his second goal of the match, the sophomore raised his season total to 12, which sets a new school record for goals in a season. Dux breaks a record previously held by Christian Paz that had stood for nine years.
The Gyrene attack continued in the second half, as Ave Maria scored again in the 51st minute. Donte Powell found himself with the ball just inside the penalty box, and was able to beat the FMU goalkeeper one-on-one for his seventh goal of the season. FMU was able to get on the board in the 77th minute on a penalty kick, which was converted by Mauricio Rodriguez.
Ave Maria closed the game with their final goal, scoring with just 21 seconds remaining in the match. On his final kick at home as a Gyrene, senior Resam Moghimi placed his corner kick directly on the head of Hernando Valencia-Parra, who put the ball in the back of the net.
Due to earning a forfeit victory over SCAD-Savannah in the game scheduled for next Saturday, the Gyrenes will not play for eleven days before concluding the season with a pair of road matches. Ave will play next on October 24 against Keiser University in West Palm Beach. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.
