AVE MARIA, Fla. --- The Ave Maria women's lacrosse team defeated Franciscan 11-7 on Monday afternoon to even up their overall record at 2-2. AMU used seven second half goals to break open a one-goal game at the break.
 
Katelyn Sherman led the Gyrenes with three goals on 11 shots and seven shots on goal. She also had six draw controls, seven groundballs, and two caused turnovers. Aiyanah Simms and Amanda Spurlin each tallied two goals while four other Gyrenes found the back of the net once.
 
AMU struck first with a Simms goal less than two minutes into the game. After a pair of goals by Franciscan, Simms scored her second goal followed by two-straight scores from Sherman, including a man-up goal.
 
The Barons scored the final goal of the first half to make it 4-3 AMU heading into halftime.
 
Jessica Denara opened the scoring for the Blue and Green in the second half when she found the back of the net off a pass from Spurlin.
 
The teams exchanged two goals over the next several minutes with the Gyrene goals coming from Emma Davis and Stephanie Hilker. Sherman made it 8-5 in favor of the Gyrenes with 11:21 to play with her third goal of the game.
 
Spurlin scored a pair of goals and Karina Shaffrey netted her third goal of the year over the final 6:30 to push the AMU advantage to 11-6. Franciscan added a late goal to make the final score 11-7.
 
AMU held a 42-20 shot advantage and a 26-12 shot on goal edge. The Gyrenes picked up 25 groundballs compared to 22 by the Barons. Ave Maria totaled 13 draw controls with Franciscan grabbing the other seven.

Hilker got the start in net for AMU and played the first 14 minutes of the game. She made three saves and allowed two goals before switching to midfield. She was relieved by Alexa Keeler. Keeler picked up the win, playing just over 46 minutes and allowing five goals on seven shots faced. She had two saves.
 
The Gyrenes return to action on Wednesday when they host RV Marian in AMU's Mid-South Conference opener. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.