TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — After lightning postponed their original season opener in West Palm Beach, the Ave Maria Women's Soccer team got a nice 2-1 win over the Florida College Falcons to start 2024. The Gyrenes record 16 shots on goal, 10 more than the Falcons.

Ave Maria came out firing in the first half, taking four shots in the first seven minutes of the game. They were all either wide or high, so not counting as a shot on goal, but showed Ave Maria was putting pressure on Florida College.

That pressure paid off in the 10^th minute with Claire Wrobleski hitting the back of the net off a feed from Rachel Dalton. Wrobleski is a freshman from Plains, Montana, who made the starting lineup for the Gyrenes in game one.

That was all the scoring for either team in the first half, but the Gyrenes got more looks at the net. After the Wrobleski goal, Ave Maria took 11 more shots, seven of which were on goal and saved by Florida College goalie Jillian Francis.

On the other end of the field, sophomore Emma Schweitzer returned in goal after a stellar freshman season and made two saves in the first half to keep AMU on top 1-0.

The second half was almost a direct copy of the first, with Ave Maria putting on early pressure. The Gyrenes got three shots, two of which were on goal in the opening six minutes of the frame.

Continuing the similarities to the first, Wrobleski scored in the opening ten minutes as well to put the Gyrenes up 2-0. This time, she was fed by Kana Mateaki, a graduate student transfer from Eastern Oregon.

With the second goal of the game, Wrobleski becomes just the third freshman in program history to record a multi-goal game in her first ever match as a Gyrene. She joins teammate Catherine Dalton who scored two against Florida College as well August 31, 2023, and Alex Wardrope who scored three against Florida Christian back in 2012.

Ave Maria took six more shots throughout the half with five of them on goal, but none of them went in.

Schweitzer made three more saves against the Falcons before Florida College erased the shutout with a goal in the 82^nd minute to give the final score of 2-1.

In total, Ave Maria recorded 16 shots on goal in their season opener. It is the most shots on goal for the Gyrenes since the opener of last season when they put 18 on net against the Falcons.

With the win, Ave Maria starts the year off 1-0. The Gyrenes take a trip up to the Peach State next weekend to play two games against the Thomas NightHawks and the Abraham Baldwin Golden Stallions. The games are set for Friday and Sunday.