AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team got back in the win column Monday night with a 1-0 victory over the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. The win snaps a six-game losing streak and avenges their 1-0 loss to the Mighty Banyans back in September.
The lone goal came early in the game. After applying some initial pressure, Jael Parraga stepped in front of a pass from New College and made a break for the goal at the five minute mark. At about halfway into the penalty area, he shot the ball just past the Mighty Banyans keeper and into the left side of the net. It is the second goal of the season for Parraga and the fourth goal of his career.
The Parraga goal was the only shot on goal for the Gyrenes in the game. For the rest of the match, Ave Maria dug in their heels and played stout defense.
New College finished the match with 12 shots, three of which were on goal. Keeper Andrija Vujakovic stopped all three shots on goal putting up his third shutout of the season, tying a program record for most shutouts in a season. Andres Martin also had three blank sheets in 2011.
The Mighty Banyans also committed five yellow cards, all in the second half, which helped Ave gain possession and keep the ball away from New College. In comparison, the Gyrenes only had two cards, one in the first half and the other in the second half.
"We were missing a lot of players tonight. Missing quite a few starters, and our guys just rallied and played really hard, and they really fought for this tonight," said head coach Cesar Markovic after the win. "It's really the standard for how hard we should play to win games. Our guys really gave everything tonight."
Monday's game was originally scheduled for October 9 but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton making landfall that night. It almost didn't happen, but the Gyrenes wanted to play this game.
"I gave them the choice, and unanimously they wanted to play. So, I gave them the game, and this is what we got," said Markovic.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 2-9-2 overall. It was also their first home win of the season.
The Gyrenes stay home for their next match as they take on the SCAD Bees in a Thursday afternoon bout. It is the first and only meeting between the Gyrenes and the Bees this season. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
