TRINITY, Fla. — The historic start to the season continues for the Ave Maria Gyrenes Men's Soccer team, as they beat the Trinity College Tigers 11-0. The Gyrenes broke many school records Saturday evening and are beginning to etch their name as the greatest Ave Maria team in their 13 years of existence.
It didn't take long for AMU to grab a dominating lead in the game. Within the first ten minutes of kickoff, the Gyrenes got out to a 3-0 lead off a goal from Juan Parra and two from JP Pontarelli. The first half scoring didn't stop there though, as Josh Gaeng got on the score sheet in the 40th minute, and Parra scored his second goal just two minutes later. Ave Maria took a 5-0 lead into halftime.
In the second period, the Gyrenes continued to score with relative ease. Cade Williams record his first goal of the season in the 53rd minute. Nine minutes later, Gaeng got his second goal of the game, bringing his season total to nine.
In the final 15 minutes of the game, bench players got onto the pitch and were able to tally some goals of their own. Cedric Georges and Ben Tumey each got a goal, while Blake Joseph notched two. Joseph's second goal came with just two minutes left to play and was the 11th and final goal for Ave Maria.
As impressive as the goals were, the Gyrenes also recorded a plethora of assists. 10 of the 11 goals Ave Maria scored were assisted by another Gyrene, with Parra being responsible for three of those assists.
With all of those offensive achievements, the Gyrenes are starting break school records. Parra become just the eighth Gyrene to record a seven-point game or higher and was the first player to do so since Kensley Jean Baptiste recorded seven points on October 22, 2019. Parra also became only the second Gyrene to have a three-assist game. Furthermore, Parra tied Jean Baptiste for most assists in a single season with only four games played.
Following his two goals on Saturday, Gaeng now has 20 career goals at AMU. He is only eight goals away from passing Jean Baptiste on the career goal leaderboard and becoming the most prolific goal scorer in Ave Maria history.
As a team, it was the first time since August 18, 2018, that the Gyrenes have scored more than ten goals in a game. The last time that happened was a 17-1 victory over the very same Trinity College Tigers. The 11 goals scored Saturday was the fourth highest total AMU has ever scored in a game.
With the win, the Gyrenes improve to 4-0, the best start to a season in Ave Maria history. Their next game is Tuesday, September 13, when AMU will continue a game with the Warner Royals that was suspended due to rain back in August.
