AVE MARIA, Fla. — Powered by a super charged first quarter, the Ave Maria Gyrenes got a historic win Wednesday night beating the Keiser Seahawks 16-13. It is the first time in seven years that the Gyrenes have beaten KU and snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Seahawks.
The first quarter was, without a doubt, the most complete quarter the Gyrenes have played all season. Ave Maria found the back of the net eight times while holding Keiser to just two goals. Defensively, the Gyrenes caused more turnovers and kept the Seahawks from clearing twice.
Oriana Eldridge scored the first goal of the game a little under two minutes into the frame. A few minutes later, Anna Bocchino followed it up with a player advantage goal to put the Gyrenes up 2-0. Keiser got a goal back trying to breakup the Gyrenes' momentum, but they couldn't slow down Ave Maria.
AMU got six goals in the final six minutes to take a strong command of the game. Abbey Seiler scored twice in less than a minute to get the rally started. Alexandra Mazurczak then found the back of the net to put the Gyrenes up 5-1. After a Seahawk goal, Mazurczak struck again for her second goal. Bocchino got her second goal of the quarter a few possessions later. Finally, with a little over a minute remaining in the first, Hannah Shaffrey scored the eighth goal for the Gyrenes, putting them up 8-2.
After the eighth goal, the Seahawks made a change in goalie, taking out their starter who had played most of the season coming into this contest.
Eight goals in a quarter is the second-most for Ave Maria this season, who put up nine in the first against the Franciscan Barons.
With a six-goal lead after one quarter, the Gyrenes sat back focused on not surrendering the lead. The Gyrenes kept winning the turnover battle and did not allow Keiser many looks at the net.
Ave Maria connected twice in the second quarter on goals from Claire Ichniowski and Lily Hynds. Keiser scored three time in the frame to make the halftime score 10-5.
At the start of the third quarter, Seiler and Ichniowski both found the back of the net in the opening five minutes to give the Gyrenes a seven-goal lead, their largest of the night. For Seiler, it was her 100th career goal as a Gyrene. She is now only the third player in program history to reach triple-digits, joining Emma Davis (121) and head coach Katelyn Sherman (142).
Keiser responded with three goals of their own to make it a 12-8 game. In the final minutes, Hynds scored her second goal of the night to even out the quarter and preserve the five-lead heading into the final frame.
The Seahawks blitzed in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring two goals to make it 13-10. That would be the closest Keiser got however, as the Gyrenes kept them at bay. Shaffrey and Ichniowski scored back-to-back goals to get up to 15. KU scored two more goals, but the Seahawks were running out of time. Hynds got her third goal of the game with just under three minutes left to seal the game. The Seahawks got one more in the final seconds, but it was too little too late.
When the final horn sounded, the Gyrenes rushed the field after beating the Seahawks 16-13.
Overall, it was the most complete game for the Gyrenes this season. The Gyrenes won the turnover battle, causing four more than they gave up, scooped up more ground balls and won more draws than the Seahawks.
Individually, Seiler and Shaffrey led the team in points, both with six. Shaffrey scored two goals and had four assists while Seiler had three goals and three assists. With six points, Shaffrey passes Davis for the second-most career points in program history. She now only has head coach Sherman ahead of her on the Ave Maria leaderboard.
Hynds and Ichniowski joined Seiler in the hat-trick club, each with three goals. Mazurczak and Bocchino had multi-goal games as well and Eldridge rounded out the scoring with a goal and an assist.
As a team, nine assists is the fourth most in a game in program history.
Between the pipes, Emily Durr got her fifth win of the season. The junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, made four saves to bump her season total up to 46. Hannah McConologue played the last 15 minutes of the game, making three saves and holding off the final Keiser attack.
With the win, the Gyrenes improved to 5-4 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The Gyrenes now jump up to third in the SUN Conference, half a game behind Life and half a game ahead of St. Thomas.
Ave Maria will host the Life Running Eagles Saturday morning for their final home game of the regular season. The Gyrenes are 1-5 all-time against the Running Eagles but seem to be in a streak-breaking mood this season following the win over Keiser. Opening draw is set for 10 a.m. and the match can be live streamed on the Sun Digital Network.
