AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria University men's soccer team dropped their second game in a row, following a 4-1 loss to the Florida National Conquistadors, who entered the game ranked No. 18 in the newest NAIA Coaches' Poll. Despite the loss, the Gyrenes battled hard and made one of the top teams in the country sweat for most of the game.
The game was initially scheduled to start at 4 pm, but due to lightning and heavy rain in the area, the game was postponed for more than two hours and officially kicked off at 6:15 pm.
The Conquistadors jumped out to an early lead. With only two minutes and 40 seconds off the clock, Santiago Leaniz shot from about 30 yards away from the goal and scored just over the hands of goalie Rhys Lawlor.
For the next 30 minutes, FNU controlled the momentum and the game. The Conquistadors had possession of the ball in the offensive zone most of the time. The few times AMU did get possession of the ball, it was on fast breaks that the Gyrenes could not convert into goals. Either a FNU defender would swoop in and steal the ball, or a pass would get just out of the reach of a Gyrene and go out of bounds.
In the 35th minute, the Conquistadors extended their lead. Patrico Amores took a shot from right of the Gyrene net that Lawlor was able to save. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to control the rebound, and Pedro Navarro rushed in down the middle and slammed the ball in for FNU's second goal of the night. The Conquistadors would take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
After the break, the Gyrenes came out firing and controlled the momentum of the game. It culminated in a Josh Gaeng goal 20 minutes into the second period. JP Pontarelli stole the ball from a Conquistador and then turned on the jets to get some separation. He then found Juan Parra down the field, who crossed the ball over to Gaeng who put in the back of the net. It was Gaeng's 11th goal of the season, and 22nd of his career. He is now just five goals away from tying Kensley Jean Baptiste for most career goals at Ave Maria. Parra also got his eighth assist of the season, which means he now holds the record for most assists in a single season.
Following the goal, the Gyrenes put more pressure on the Conquistadors, but couldn't grab another goal to tie the game. FNU on the other hand, despite not having most of the momentum in the second, was able to tack on more goals to extend their lead and ensure their victory. With just under seven minutes left on the game clock, Francisco Crimi scored the Conquistadors their third goal off a feed from Bruno Gonzalez. Then, six minutes later, Crimi scored his second goal of the game and made it 4-1 in favor of Florida National.
With the loss, the Gyrenes fall to 4-2 on the season and have yet to beat FNU in program history. Ave Maria's next game is Tuesday, September 20th at the Johnson Suns in Kissimmee, Florida. Following that game, the Gyrenes will then open their Sun Conference schedule at home against the Florida Memorial Lions Saturday, September 24.
