AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University women's soccer put up a fight early Thursday afternoon, but lightning could not strike twice, as the tenth-ranked Southeastern University Fire earned a 5-1 victory over the Gyrenes. The Gyrenes, who beat the Fire on their home field a year ago, took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game, but SEU rallied to claim the three points. Prior to the contest, AMU honored its eight seniors on Senior Day.
Rachel Dalton provided flashbacks to AMU's 2021 upset, scoring in the fourth minute of the match after her sisters Emily and Sarah provided the scoring in Lakeland last season. Dalton scored from point blank range in the opening moments of the match, stealing the ball from a Southeastern defender and beating the goalkeeper for her second goal of the season. Ave Maria's lead would last until the 40th minute, when a quick surge from the Fire gave the visitors the lead for good.
Southeastern tied the match in the 40th minute, when Katie Carnes scored on an assist from Nana Omae. It look less than 80 seconds for the Fire to then take the lead, as Ariadna Lozano scored with an assist given to Naira Lopez in the 41st minute. The two Southeastern goals in the final five minutes before the break gave the Fire a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
The Fire then added three more goals in the second half to pull away from the Gyrenes. Ramsey Watkins scored for the Fire in the 54th minute, and Karissa King added tallies in the 71st and 78th minutes. Ave Maria did have a golden opportunity for a goal of their own in the second half, as a Southeastern foul in the box gave the Gyrenes a penalty kick. However, the attempt sailed wide of the net, denying AMU a chance to, at the time, cut SEU's lead to 3-2.
SEU outshot the Gyrenes by a 19-11 margin, with the bulk of the game's shots (20 of 31) coming in the second half. Both goalkeepers - Southeastern's Holly Eddins and Ave Maria's Kylie Zimmerman - made six saves on Thursday. Most of Ave Maria's attacks came from Dalton and Lauren Brooks, who combined for seven of the team's eleven shots and five of the seven shots on goal. AMU's other two attempts on net were taken by Madisen Olmstead and Liz Wolf.
The next week will be critical for the Gyrenes, who will need results in each of their next two matches to put themselves in position to make The Sun Conference Tournament. AMU will first head to the Peach State for a meeting with the Thomas University Night Hawks on Saturday. The Gyrenes will then take on Warner next week before finishing the regular season against top-ranked Keiser next Saturday.
