TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's soccer team continued the best start in school history on Monday night, cruising to a 4-0 victory over the Florida College Falcons in Temple Terrace. With their third consecutive win, which was also the team's third consecutive shutout, the Gyrenes moved to 5-1 for the first time in school history with a performance powered by the team's freshmen, who were responsible for all four AMU goals.
Florida College was able to keep Ave Maria off the board for more than 30 minutes on Monday night, but the Gyrenes finally broke through in the 35th minute. A cross into the box pinballed around, and finally found the foot of freshman Mia Teare. Teare finished from close range, breaking the scoreless tie and giving the Gyrenes a 1-0 lead. Junior Marguerite Estes was credited with the assist on the play.
Teare added her second goal of the night just a few minutes later, extending the Ave Maria lead in the 38th minute. A cross from Sarah Boucher dropped in front of Teare, who beat the goalkeeper for her second goal of the season, marking Ave Maria's third multi-goal performance of the season. The freshman's goal would be the last of the first half, as AMU held a 2-0 lead at the conclusion of 45 minutes.
Another 20 minutes would pass before another freshman got on the board for the Gyrenes. This time, Elizabeth Nowak added her first career goal. The freshman scored an unassisted goal from short range, increasing Ave Maria's lead to 3-0 in the 66th minute.
The final goal of the night was provided by a third freshman, Madelyn Krause. Estes earned her second assist of the day by finding Krause, who buried a shot in the 80th minute to complete the day's scoring. The goal, like Nowak's, was the first collegiate goal for the Venice, Florida native.
Ave Maria was the far more aggressive team on Monday night, holding a 34-3 lead in shots over the Falcons. Of those 34 shots, 20 were on target from the visiting Gyrenes. Ave Maria also had eight opportunities for a corner kick, as opposed to just one for Florida College.
Maddie Samuelson did not allow a third goal for the third consecutive match, increasing her streak of scoreless play to more than 272 minutes. Florida College's only test of the senior came in the 42nd minute, when Samuelson turned away a shot by the Falcons' Baleigh Simpson. The win was Samuelson's third 90-minute shutout of the season, making her only the second AMU goalkeeper in school history with three or more shutouts in one year, and the first since 2011.
The remainder of this week will be a quiet one for the Gyrenes, who will have nine days between Monday's win and their next fixture. Next on the schedule for Ave Maria is a rematch with Florida National University, who the Gyrenes defeated 1-0 in Ave Maria on September 1. The second and final meeting between the two teams is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Hialeah, Florida.
