WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In one of the most thrilling games of the season for the Gyrenes, Ave Maria came seven seconds away from forcing overtime in the SUN Conference Semifinal. However, a very late goal from the Seahawks knocked Ave Maria out of the tournament as Keiser won 19-18.
Friday afternoon was a very back-and-forth game with neither team getting more than a three goal lead on the other. KU outscored the Gyrenes 5-4 in the first quarter. AMU got their goals from four different shooters. Alexandra Mazurczak got the first goal for Ave Maria, tying the game at one just a little under three minutes into the game. Orianna Eldridge netted the second with a short-handed goal assisted, putting away a nice feed from Hannah Shaffrey.
Anna Bocchino got the third and Abbey Seiler scored the final goal of the frame for either team about 90 seconds before the horn.
Midway through the second quarter, Keiser got the biggest lead of the game, getting up 8-5 on the Gyrenes. Ave Maria responded with a vengeance, scoring the final four goals of the half. Seiler started the rally with an unassisted goal, then followed by Mazurczak and Lily Hynds, getting her first goal of the game and tying the score at eight.
With 17 seconds left in the half, Seiler got her third of the game and put the Gyrenes on top 9-8 heading into the break.
The third quarter had an onslaught of goals from both teams. Altogether, the Gyrenes and Seahawks combined for 15 goals, with Keiser taking the slight edge 8-7.
KU scored the first two goals of the frame to retake the lead 10-9. After bouncing a few times, between leads and ties, the Gyrenes struck three times in the span of a minute and 48 seconds to take a 16-15 lead. Mazurczak scored the first two goals of the streak followed by Shaffrey getting her first goal of the game. In the final minute of the quarter, Keiser tied the game at 16 with a man-advantage goal.
As if needing a break from all of the scoring in the third, the two teams tightened up defensively and combined for the lowest scoring frame of the game in the fourth.
The two teams played more than 10 minutes tied at 16 to start the fourth quarter. Emily Durr made three saves and had one shot go off the post to keep the Seahawks at bay. On the other side, KU goalie Raelyn Boutwell made one save on the Gyrenes while two more shots went wide of the net.
Four and a half minutes left to play in the game, Ave Maria got a free position shot off a foul from the Seahawks. Eldridge took the free shot and buried it home giving AMU a one goal lead.
The lead didn't last long however as Keiser hit twine on their next two shots to take an 18-17 lead with a minute and four seconds remaining.
With their backs against the wall, the Gyrenes won the draw and advanced in the offensive zone looking to tie the game. After a few seconds, Shaffrey found Bocchino who had an open look at the net and she did not miss, evening the game at 18 with 26 seconds left on the clock.
In a game that saw last second goals in every quarter, Ave Maria believed they had recorded the last second goal of the frame that would send the semifinal to overtime. Unfortunately, in the final 26 seconds of the game, Keiser won the draw, advanced into the offensive zone and scored the winning goal, this time with just seven seconds remaining.
Ave Maria couldn't control the ball in the ensuing draw and the clock ran out, ending the game in favor of the Seahawks.
At 37 combined goals, Friday's semifinal was the highest scoring game in Ave Maria history in six years.
Four Gyrenes had multi-goal games with Mazurczak and Bocchino leading the team each with five. Eldridge and Seiler both had three. Hynds and Shaffrey scored the last two goals for the Gyrenes.
In the net, Durr made eight saves, her third highest total this year.
With the loss, Ave Maria finishes the season with a 7-6 record. It is the Gyrenes' first winning record in program history. The Gyrenes end the season with the most goals scored in program history (182) and the second-fewest goals allowed (133). Individually, Shaffrey set the single season record for assists (26) for the third year in a row. Also, Kylie Tittinger tied the single season record for caused turnovers (32) matching her season from a year ago. Emily Durr also tied the single season record for wins (7) with Bianca Ballarin's seven win season in 2017.
