AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team got their 2018 season off to an explosive start on Saturday afternoon, scoring a school record 17 goals in a 17-1 victory over the Tigers of Trinity College. The 17 goal effort broke the previous AMU record, set once in 2014 and evened in 2015, by two goals. In four meetings all-time, the Gyrenes are 4-0 against the Tigers, and have outscored Trinity 55-2.
The Gyrenes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the game, as Kensley Jean Baptiste tallied goals in the fourth and fifth minutes. Jean Baptiste would tie a school record with four goals, and would set a new AMU mark with ten points in the contest, as he also added two assists. Jean Baptiste's other two goals came in the ninth and 13th minutes of the match.
In the first half, Ave Maria ended with a 14-1 advantage over the Tigers. During the first 45 minutes, six Gyrenes found the back of the net. In his first match at Ave Maria, Kaveon Dux scored a hat trick, making him the seventh Gyrene in school history to score three times in a single match - a total that includes Jean Baptiste earlier in the contest. Dux scored his three goals in the span of 83 seconds.
Also adding multiple goals in their first match were Donte Powell, who scored in the 12th and 14th minutes, and Greg Lawrence, who tallied scores in the 27th and 37th minutes. In the second half, Ian Fox scored twice to complete the scoring.Â
An assist was recorded on 12 of Ave Maria's 17 goals. Dux and Jean Baptiste each added two assists to their hat tricks, and Matias Carbone assisted on two goals and scored one of his own. In total, 12 Gyrenes either scored or assisted on a goal in the 17-1 blowout.
As a team, the Gyrenes set school records for goals, assists, and points in a single match. Ave Maria took 38 shots during the game, which was cut ten minutes short due to lightning in the area of Gyrene Field. Of those 38 shots, 30 of them were on target.
Following Saturday's record-breaking victory, the Gyrenes will return to action on Monday for a match against Warner University. The contest, which will not count in The Sun Conference standings, is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Lake Wales. The next home match is slated for Friday at 11 a.m. against Trinity Baptist College.
