TAMPA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's soccer team won their season opener Saturday against the Florida College Falcons 4-1. Ave Maria has now won their season opener for the last three seasons in a row.
The victory ended a 14-match winless streak for the Gyrenes against the Falcons, a streak that extended back to the team's last win over Florida College on September 26, 2009.
The scoring started really early for the Gyrenes. With just 41 seconds off the clock in the first half, Josh Gaeng buried the ball in the back of the Falcons' net.
A little over 21 minutes later, Gaeng got on the score sheet again with his second goal of the game and put the Gyrenes up 2-0.
Despite the early deficit, Florida College did not roll over and started to apply pressure on the Ave Maria defense. Eventually, the Falcons broke through and Marin Klapuh scored their lone goal of the afternoon in the 28th minute.
The Gyrenes quickly regained their two-goal lead just two minutes later. For the third time Saturday afternoon, Gaeng found the back of the net again. With the goal, Gaeng recorded his second hat trick of his Ave Maria career. He also became just the second Gyrene to record multiple hat tricks while at Ave Maria. The first was Kensley Jean Baptiste who ended his college career with three hat tricks.
Gaeng's goals gave him 14 in just over two seasons at Ave Maria, and moved him into third in school history in career goals, moving past Mario Black, who played for AMU from 2011 to 2013. He also moved into third in school history with 31 career points, passing Christian Paz. Another goal from Gaeng would move him into second in both categories, even with former All-Conference player Kaveon Dux.
Things quieted down after the Gaeng goal and Ave Maria took a 3-1 lead into halftime.
In the second half, Ave Maria added one more goal to their total. Just three minutes into the new half, J.P. Pontarelli notched his first goal of the season giving the Gyrenes a 4-1 lead.
Ave Maria's defense stepped up for the rest of the game and kept the Florida College attack at bay. Goalie Rhys Lawlor did not face many shots in the second half thanks to the Gyrene defense, but when the Falcons did get a shot on goal, Lawlor was there to make both saves.
When the final horn sounded, the Gyrenes walked off the field with a 4-1 victory.
The Gyrenes will get a week off before playing their next game September 3. That game will be Ave Maria's home opener against the Johnson University Suns with kickoff set for noon. The Gyrenes are 2-0 all time against the Suns and look to continue that trend.
