AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team fell in a very competitive contest Wednesday night to the number one team in the country, the St. Thomas Bobcats, losing 1-0.

In the first half, the Gyrenes mainly played defense against the top team in the NAIA and were up to the task. St. Thomas outshot the Gyrenes 9-1 in the opening frame. Of the nine shots for the Bobcats two were on goal and were both saved by keeper Andrija Vujakovic. Wednesday was the sixth match this season Vujakovic has turned in a clean sheet in the first half for the Gyrenes.

The first three shots for the Bobcats were all blocked by Gyrene defenders.

On the offensive side, the Gyrenes lone shot was not on goal, with Andre Betioli's blast being blocked by a Bobcat defender.

Despite the being on the defensive for most of the first frame, the Gyrenes felt good turning in a scoreless tie at the half.

In the final frame, the Bobcats came out swinging again. After a couple more shots that went high of the goal one more save from Vujakovic, St. Thomas connected for the lone goal of the game.

In the 59^th minute the Bobcats scored on a free kick to break the scoreless tie.

At the 72^nd minute mark, the game was paused for a short lightning delay. Both teams went into the locker room to wait out the weather. Fortunately, the delay was not too long and both teams were out playing again after just 42 minutes.

With just under 20 minutes left to play, the Gyrenes tried to create some late match magic much like they did against Warner. St. Thomas tried to control the ball, but Ave Maria was able to get their chances in to tie the game up.

The best opportunity for the Gyrenes was in the final minute of play. Mateo Rolon got a shot on goal that was deflected by the Bobcats goalie out of bounds. Ave Maria got a corner kick out of the deal and took one more shot off the boot of Andre Betioli, but the ball went high.

On the defensive side, just before the late Gyrene push, St. Thomas had a chance to score a second goal and put the game away, but defender Riley Green made a sliding save on the ball to keep the score at 1-0.

Vujakovic had four saves on the night. Combined with the Green save, the Gyrenes stopped five of six shots on goal from the Bobcats.

The Gyrenes finished the game with two shots on goal, one from Anderson Duggan and one from Rolon.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-5-2 and 0-3-1 in conference play.

The Gyrenes are back in action Saturday, September 28, against the Florida National Conquistadors. It is a doubleheader with both the men's and women's teams taking on FNU. Kickoff is set for 7:00 pm and the game can be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.