WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team could not climb out of an early hole, and fell 6-4 in a high-scoring match Wednesday afternoon to the Seahawks of Keiser University. The Gyrenes nearly rallied from a three goal deficit, but could not complete the comeback against the hosts.

Keiser jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 22 minutes of the match, scoring on their first three shots on goal of the contest. Theo Campbell provided the opening goal in the 17th minute on assists from Amine Meski and Sebastian Espino. Ciro Damine scored the next two goals for the Seahawks, scoring twice in a 65 second span. Damine scored on a shot from the top of the box in the 21st minute, and added a goal on a cross from Isaias Lobos in the 22nd.

The Gyrenes responded with two goals in just over 30 seconds to trim the Seahawk lead to one. Greg Lawrence began the scoring in the 35th minute, placing a cross from Donte Powell into the net. Kaveon Dux then scored his 13th goal of the season from the top of the box 33 seconds later, cutting Keiser's advantage to 3-2.

The teams traded goals to end the first half with Keiser holding a 4-3 lead. Keiser extended their edge to two goals in the 37th minute on an own goal, but Dux responded with his second goal of the afternoon in the 39th minute. Dux's second goal came on a corner kick from Raphael Rodriguez, who picked up the assist.

Sebastian Espino provided a pair of goals for the Seahawks in the second half to pull away from the Gyrenes. Espino scored on a header from Gontzal Balaguer in the 49th minute, and scored again on an assist from Balaguer and Luca Bargiggia in the 66th minute. Ave Maria closed the match with a goal in the 88th minute, scored by Hernando Valencia-Parra on a shot from just inside the box.

The 2018 regular season comes to an end for the Gyrenes on Saturday, when Ave Maria travels to Lakeland for a match with Southeastern University. Ave Maria is still alive for a berth in The Sun Conference tournament, but would need a win and a loss by Johnson and Wales against Warner. Kickoff in Lakeland against the Fire is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.