AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's soccer team put up a stout defensive effort against the No. 9 Keiser University Seahawks on Wednesday evening, falling 3-0 to the defending Sun Conference regular season champions. Keiser's three-goal effort was the fewest goals allowed by an Ave Maria team to a Keiser squad in the history of the series.

The Gyrene defense kept the Seahawks off the board until the 28th minute, when Keiser took the lead on a free kick. From over 40 yards out, Keiser midfielder Maxi Krug buried a free kick into the back of the net, giving the Seahawks a 1-0 edge. Just over eight minutes later, Ebba Gustafsson scored on an assist from Filippa Millqvist, giving the Seahawks a 2-0 edge that would last to halftime.

Once again, it took nearly 30 minutes for the Seahawks to score in the second half. In the 74th minute, Emma Holmskov concluded the scoring with her first goal of the season, with the assist going to Linnea Axengren.

Ave Maria held the Seahawks to just three goals despite being outshot 28-1. The Seahawks took 13 shots on goal, with ten turned away by Gyrene goalkeeper Molly Jensen. In Jensen's last two starts in net, the sophomore has made 25 total saves against Palm Beach Atlantic and Keiser. The lone AMU shot on goal was taken by Sarah McBride, but was hauled in by Keiser's Nina Haeberlin.

Following Wednesday's conference opener, the Gyrenes get a week off before their next test inside The Sun Conference. Next Wednesday, Ave Maria will travel to North Miami for a meeting with the Johnson and Wales University Wildcats, with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Gyrenes' next home match will feature Ave Maria welcoming Thomas University to campus for a 4:00 p.m. kickoff.