AVE MARIA, Fla. — For the fourth time this season, the Ave Maria University women's soccer team ended their game in a tie. The one difference about this tie however is that, for the first time this season, goals were actually scored with both teams putting one point on the board.
The first twenty minutes of the game were very even between the two teams. Both the Bobcats and the Gyrenes exchanged shots and were even at three a piece around the halfway point of the opening period. In the 28th, the Gyrenes got a phenomenal scoring opportunity and cashed in. Brenda Tubb started the play and passed forward about 20 yards to Rachel Dalton. Dalton, made one defender miss, looked up and found an open Liz Wolf racing down the field with no one covering her and gave her a really good through ball to lead her into scoring position. Wolf then put a chip shot on the ball, which grazed the St. Thomas goalie's fingers, bounced off the cross bar and into the back of the net to give the Gyrenes a 1-0 lead.
It was Wolf's fourth goal of the season , making her the goals leader on the team for 2022. It was also Dalton's fourth assist on the season, giving her six points on the year, but more importantly, her 32nd point of her career giving her sole possession of fifth place on the AMU all-time leaderboard for career points. Dalton passed Beth Greve who played for the Gyrenes in their inaugural seasons from 2009-12.
In the final minutes of the first half, Ave Maria was dealt a tough blow, as a red card forced AMU to play a man down for the remainder of the contest against the (RV) Bobcats.
In the final period, the Gyrenes dropped back to play defense allowing the Bobcats to have most of the offensive opportunities. Ave Maria managed a couple of shots, but it is hard to get anything going offense with one less player than your opponent. In the 75th minute, St. Thomas finally capitalized on their advantage as Claudia Rodriguez got a ball past Maddie Samuelson on the left side and tied the game at one.
Both teams had opportunities in the final 15 minutes to grab the lead and the game, but both teams' defenses were stronger and snuffed out every chance, ending the game in a tie.
With the tie, the Gyrenes improve to 3-3-4 and 0-1-1 in SUN Conference play. As of right now, the AMU is still on the outside looking in with the SUN Playoffs, but the one point from the tie keeps them with in striking distance of jumping into the top 6 that make the playoffs. The Gyrenes next game is Saturday, October 15, when they will travel out to Miami Gardens to take on the 0-5 Lions of Florida Memorial. Their next home game is Monday, October 17, against the 12th ranked SCAD Bees. That game was is a makeup of game that was cancelled because of Hurricane Ian October 1.
