MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Women's Soccer team played to a 1-1 tie against the St. Thomas Bobcats Wednesday night. The two goals were separated by just two and half minutes in the second half.

The opening 45 minutes of the game were pretty even between the Gyrenes and the Bobcats. St. Thomas led 8-5 in shots while the Gyrenes led 2-1 in shots on goal. The two shots on goal for the Gyrenes were both from Rachel Dalton and were both saved.

Emma Schweitzer stopped the one shot she faced in the first half. Six of the other shots were either wide or high of the goal while one hit the crossbar.

In the second half, both teams got some offense going in the opening minutes. St. Thomas got their second shot on goal that was saved again by Schweitzer.

Two minutes later, Liliya Ward put a shot on goal that was saved, but the Gyrenes were able to keep the ball in the offensive zone.

In the 57^th minute, Dalton finally connected for the first goal of the game. Dalton got into some free space about 25 yards out from the goal and sent a rocket to the bottom left corner of the goal that blew past the Bobcat goalie.

For Dalton, it was the first goal of the season for her, and her 18^th career goal. The senior from Venice, Florida, now has sole possession of the fourth most career goals at Ave Maria in program history, passing Victoria Johnson who played here from 2013-14. She also now has 49 career points, tying her with Anne Bateman (2013-15) for the second-most in AMU history.

The celebration was brief, however, with St. Thomas tying the game back up just two minutes and 24 seconds later. The Bobcats put one in the back of the net on a long shot similar to the one from Dalton. Schweitzer got her hands on the ball but was only able to slow it down on its way to the net.

In the final 30 minutes of the game, the teams exchanged chances but neither could find a way to break the tie. St. Thomas took two shots on goal, both saved by Schweitzer, and the Gyrenes took one.

At the end of the game, the Gyrenes trailed in shots for the firs time this season, with St. Thomas outshooting Ave Maria 23-14. However, both teams ended the game tied with five shots on goal and four saves.

Individually, Dalton led the team with seven shots, four of which were on goal.

With the tie, Ave Maria moves to 4-1-2 on the season and 2-0-2 in conference play. Ave Maria has eight points in the in Sun Conference Standings, which has them sitting in third place. They are one point behind SCAD and Keiser who are tied for first with nine points and one point ahead of St. Thomas who sits in fourth place with seven points.

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 4:30 pm and the game can be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.