BILLINGS, Mont. — Following a cancelation on August 18 against the Trinity Tigers, the Ave Maria Men's Soccer team got their 2023 campaign started a week later in a neutral site matchup 2500 miles away against the Providence Argos. Unfortunately, the Gyrenes dropped their first game under new head coach Cesar Markovic, 4-2.

In the 33rd minute, Levi Orlando scored the first goal of the season for Gyrenes to tie the game up at 1. An Argo defender passed the ball back to their goalkeeper, who intended to then pass the ball across the field to another open Argo. However, the goalie did not see a streaking Orlando running towards and the sophomore swiped the ball away and buried it in the back of the net.

The Gyrenes and Argos played evenly for the final minutes of the first half and headed into the break knotted up at one.

In the opening ten minutes of the second half, Ave Maria took the lead off another goal from  Orlando. A turnover at midfield led to a Gyrene rush on goal. Cade Williams, one of the four seniors on the squad, delivered a beautiful cross from outside the goalie box, placing it perfectly for Orlando to tap the ball in and give AMU a 2-1 lead.

The lead did not last though as just 30 seconds later, the Argos tied the game back up at 2. In the final ten minutes of the game, Providence scored twice to make the final score 4-2.

Despite the loss, the Gyrenes played tough soccer and looked good in their opening match.

The team now has a day to explore Billings, Montana, before heading back on the pitch to finish up the road trip against the Rocky Mountain Battlin' Bears. The game is set to start at 12 p.m. Mountain time, 2 p.m. Eastern time. Real-time stats and the livestream of the game can be found on either Ave Maria's or Rocky Mountain's athletic website.