CLEARWATER, Fla.- The Ave Maria University lacrosse team could not keep up with an early scoring barrage from a quality NCAA Division III opponent on Sunday, dropping an 18-11 decision to the Nor'easters from the University of New England in Clearwater. The Gyrenes nearly erased an early 5-1 deficit to New England, but were outscored 10-2 in the second half to fall in their second neutral site game in eight days. 

Coming off an emotional win over No. 1 Benedictine on Thursday, the Gyrenes started slow against UNE. After a goal from Orianna Eldridge tied the score at one, New England rattled off four consecutive goals over the next eleven minutes. Barrie Guertin scored two of those goals for the Nor'easters, allowing New England to hold a 5-1 lead after 15 minutes of play. 

Ave Maria started to get the momentum back in the second quarter, outscoring New England 6-3 to get within one goal, 8-7, at halftime. Monrae Prentice and Sophie Paige scored consecutive goals in the first six minutes of the half to cut the UNE lead to 5-3. After UNE scored two straight goals to push the lead back to four, Ave Maria outscored the Nor'easters 4-1 in the final six minutes thanks to two goals from Eldridge and tallies from Paige and Prentice.

However, that momentum would not hold for the Gyrenes, as New England regained control of the match in the third quarter. The Nor'easters started the half with three straight goals in the first seven minutes of the quarter, pushing their lead back to 11-7. A goal from Abbey Seiler stopped the bleeding, while Claire Ichniowski also added a goal in the final minute to send the match into the fourth quarter with a score of 13-9.

The fourth quarter was much the same as the third, as New England again outscored the Gyrenes by a 5-2 margin. The Nor'easters scored the first two goals of the quarter, taking a 13-7 lead less than three minutes into the frame. After a goal from Seiler made it 13-8, the Nor'easters put the game away with three more goals before Eldridge concluded the day's scoring with a goal with just over eight minutes to play.

Eldridge was the unquestioned leader of the Gyrene attack in the losing effort, scoring four of the team's eleven goals. Prentice, Paige, and Seiler all added two goals, with Prentice finishing with three points thanks to an assist. Eldridge and Kylie Tittinger led the Gyrene defense with two caused turnovers a piece, while Seiler and Prentice were AMU's best players on the restarts with four draw controls each.

Ave Maria returns to the field Thursday for a meeting with Rhodes College from Tennessee. Opening draw from Gyrene Field is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.