AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's soccer team battled one of the top teams in The Sun Conference, the Bobcats of St. Thomas University, on Tuesday night at Gyrene Field. The Gyrenes hung around for the entire 90 minutes, but fell 2-1 to the Bobcats, who moved to 5-1-1 in conference play.

Just one goal was scored in the first half, as St. Thomas took a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute. Kayla Jackson found the back of the net for her seventh goal of the season. Neither team scored in the final seven minutes-plus, despite St. Thomas holding a 16-0 lead in shots attempted in the opening 45 minutes of play.

Arianna Quintanilla scored in the 63rd minute to extend St. Thomas' lead to 2-0. The goal, which came just over 15 minutes into the second half, was Quintanilla's third of the season and proved to be the game-winner.

Ave Maria got on the board in the closing moments of the match, scoring in the 88th minute. A great pass from freshman Haley Iacona found the foot of Meghan Precord, who fired the ball into the net for her fifth goal of the season. Precord's ninth career goal increased her career points total to 27, which is good for sixth in school history.

St. Thomas outshot the Gyrenes 27-5 in the match, which included a 13-2 edge in shots on goal. Four Bobcats attempted two shots on goal, while Karina Medina and Sandy Benito led all players with four total shots. AMU's five shots came from five different players - Precord, Laura Spence, Ally Williams, Caylee Feskanin, and Sarah Dalton.

Amanda Stacy had another big game in net for the Gyrenes, making eleven saves with just the two goals allowed. Over the past three matches, the sophomore has saved 26 of the 31 shots against her in goal, keeping the Gyrenes in all three matches.

AMU's final road match of the season comes on Saturday afternoon, when the Gyrenes head to South Carolina for a meeting with USCB. The road match at Fin Land Field is scheduled to kick off at noon.