BABSON PARK, Fla. – The Ave Maria University lacrosse team erupted for 17 unanswered goals, including a school-record nine from junior Emma Davis, to cruise to a 19-2 road win over Webber University on Thursday evening.
Davis, who registered four of her goals in the first half and five in the second, shattered the program's previous single-game goal record of seven held by Katelyn Sherman (three occasions) and current AMU senior Aiyanah Simms.
The Gyrenes' offensive explosion came after they trailed for eight of the opening 11 minutes by two separate one-goal margins.
Davis answered Webber's first tally at the 24:48 mark of the opening half with a successful free position shot that made the score 1-1.
After the Warriors reclaimed the lead at 2-1 on a goal by Kaitlyn Patterson, freshman Monrae Prentice once again deadlocked the scoreboard for AMU at 2-2 with her second score of the season at 18:22 – in what would prove to be the first of 17 consecutive goals for the Gyrenes to close out the victory.
Contributing in the barrage in the first half, which would see the Gyrenes outscore the Warriors 8-2, was sophomore Samantha Freeze, Simms and freshman Orianna Eldridge, who would each post a score. Davis would add three more goals, to finish with a total of four in the opening 30 minutes.
The Gyrenes kept pouring it on in the second half – shutting out the Warriors over the final 30 minutes of action by an 11-0 margin.
Simms sandwiched her second and third goals of the contest around a tally by teammate Alexa Keeler in the initial 10 minutes after the break – making the score 11-2.
The it was time for Davis – who erased any doubt by scoring each of the game's next five goals over a span of 14 minutes to increase AMU lead to 16-2.
Freshman Jeanine Sullivan added a pair of goals over the final 3:35 and Keeler added her second score at 1:50 to round out the scoring.
The Gyrenes outshot the Warriors in the contest 40-17 – with 33 of those on goal. AMU dominated draw controls 17-5 and forced Webber into 12 of its 33 turnovers.
With the victory, the Gyrenes improve to 1-3 on the season and up their Mid-South mark to 1-2. Webber slips to 0-4 both overall and in the conference.
AMU returns to action on its home turf on Wednesday, March 31 when it hosts No. 7 Life (Ga.) University in a Mid-South Conference clash at Gyrene Field beginning at 6 p.m. EDT.
