AVE MARIA, Fla. — Ave Maria fell to the St. Thomas Bobcats 2-0 Wednesday night. The Gyrenes played a strong game but struggled to get shots on goal in the final 45 minutes of the game.
The first half started off very well for the Gyrenes. Rhys Lawlor, who led the Sun Conference in saves coming into the match, made five saves to keep the Bobcats at zero for the first 40 minutes of the game.
On the offensive side, the Gyrenes managed to get a couple of opportunities, putting two shots on goal, but both were turned aside by the St. Thomas goalie.
In the 43rd minute, STU broke the scoreless tie by knocking in a loose ball from the top of the goal box and took a 1-0 lead into the break.
In the second half, St. Thomas took control of the ball didn't allow the Gyrenes much time with the ball. The Bobcats outshot the Gyrenes 11-4 in the second half with all four of Ave Maria's shots going wide of the net.
A few of the shots were off set play which have been AMU's most lethal plays in the season. Three times senior Cade Williams, who was tied for the lead in the Sun Conference in assists coming into this game, took a free kick or corner that Ave Maria could not convert on and knock into the back of the net. It was those missed opportunities that led to the STU win.
The Bobcats extended their lead in the 61st minute making it 2-0.
Two seconds before the final horn sounded, Ave Maria had once last breakaway chance to at least end the game on a goal, but a bad slide tackle from a St. Thomas defender sent Abraham Magallanes tumbling to the ground. The ref immediately stopped the clock and threw up a red card, which would have given the Gyrenes a penalty kick to try and get that goal, but the played was called offsides before the foul occurred thus reversing the call.
The Bobcats cleared the ball and the game ended with St. Thomas on top 2-0.
With the loss, the Gyrenes fall to 1-9-1 and 1-6 in conference play. Ave Maria is now halfway through their Sun schedule and will play all seven of their rivals again. Reflecting on the first half of the season, head coach Cesar Markovic says he sees his guys getting bettered throughout the year.
"I see marked improvements every day," said Markovic. "The team is getting more and more competitive, getting tighter and tighter defensively, and creating a lot more opportunities every game. Tonight, we played a team that is receiving votes for number one in the country, and we created five or six very good opportunities, and I was happy about that part. We were a little unlucky to not score a goal…but our team battled and played to the last second, which is really my main objective for the team this year."
The Gyrenes will stay home on Saturday for the first of two back-to-back home games taking on the Southeastern Fire. SEU won the first match 3-0 in early September, but the Gyrenes will continue to battle and look to convert on opportunities.
