TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team found themselves in an early hole on Tuesday evening, and could not rally in a 3-1 defeat at hands of the Florida College Falcons at Qualls Field in Temple Terrace. The Falcons scored three goals in the first half, and held on despite a goal from the Gyrenes in the second half.
Florida College scored three times in the first half, including twice in the first 15 minutes. The first goal was provided by Rafael Magacho, who put one in the back of the net in the seventh minute on an assist from Gabriel Aguilera Jr. The second goal came just over eight minutes later, when Ethan Figgener scored in the 15th minute on an assist from Jesus Montes Herrera. Herrera got his second assist of the match in the 35th minute, passing to Jonathan Ojjih to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead that they would take into the halftime break.
Ave Maria's goal came just over ten minutes into the second half, in the 56th minute. A foul in the penalty box gave an opportunity to AMU's Andre Blanco, who converted from the spot to give the Gyrenes their first goal. The goal was the first in an Ave Maria uniform for the transfer. With Blanco's goal, Ave Maria has now scored seven goals on the season, which have been scored by seven different players.
Despite Florida College's advantage on the scoreboard, the two teams were even in shots attempted, with both squads taking 15 shots. The Gyrenes actually attempted more shots on goal than the Falcons, putting ten shots on target to eight for Florida College. Both teams had several attempts to score on corner kicks, with Florida College taking nine and Ave Maria taking six.
AMU's leading attacker was sophomore Josh Gaeng, who attempted four shots and challenged the keeper on three of them. Blanco, Cedric Georges, and Adrian De La Rosa all tried two shots in the losing effort for the Gyrenes. In net, Rhys Lawlor made five saves for the Gyrenes, and stopped all four of Florida College's second half attempts to keep the Gyrenes in the game.
The match against Florida College was the last of the week for Ave Maria, who will have eight days between Tuesday's match and the next game on the schedule. The next match comes on Wednesday, September 15, when the Gyrenes take on Florida National University for the second time this season. In the first match, the Conquistadors claimed a 5-1 victory in Hialeah. The match at Gyrene Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
