HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team hung with the SCAD Bees in their match Wednesday night and even led for 25 minutes. However, two penalty kicks in the second half put the Bees on top as the Gyrenes fell 4-2.

Nikolas Briceno opened the scoring in the 20^th minute to put the Gyrenes up 1-0. Jael Parraga played a nice through ball for Sava Cadjenovic who got pass the defenders. Cadjenovic then crossed the ball into the box where Briceno made a sliding redirection of the ball into the top left corner of the net. It is the first collegiate goal of the sophomore's career.

The Gyrenes led for five minutes until SCAD tied the game at one in the 25^th minute.

The match remained evened until Cadjenovic struck for the Gyrenes again in the 41^st minute. The sophomore received a nice feed around midfield and dribbled the ball to just outside the penalty area. He then launched an unexpecting shot that dropped in right below the crossbar to put the Gyrenes back on top 2-1. Wednesday was the second straight game with a goal from Cadjenovic who now has 13 strikes on the season, the second-most goals in a single season in Ave Maria history.

Despite being outshot 15-3 in the opening 45 minutes, Ave Maria took a 2-1 lead into halftime. Goalkeeper Andrija Vujakovic made five stops in the first half to keep the Gyrenes in front.

Ave Maria kept their lead for the first 15 minutes of the second half, but the Bees tied the game by converting on a penalty kick in the 61^st minute.

Another 15 minutes later, SCAD took the lead with their second penalty kick goal of the game. It was the second and third penalty goals allowed this season by the Gyrenes.

The Gyrenes managed three more shots in the second half, but one was wide and the other two were saved.

SCAD tacked on an insurance goal with just nine seconds left on the clock to make the final score 4-2.

Ave Maria was outshot 30-6 for the whole match and 15-4 in shots on goal. Vujakovic made 11 saves in the match, logging his second match of the season 10 or more stops.

With the loss, the Gyrenes fall to 6-7-2 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Webber lost and Warner was off on Wednesday, so Ave Maria holds on to seventh place in the Sun Conference standings and is just three points behind sixth place New College. With three more matches remaining in league play, Ave Maria is still in the hunt for a spot in the conference tournament.

The Gyrenes are back home Saturday when they host the Florida Memorial Lions. It will be Senior Day for Ave Maria as it is their last home Saturday game. The match is part of a doubleheader on the campus of Ave Maria with Volleyball taking on Southeastern earlier in the afternoon. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.