AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team fell to the Florida Memorial Lions Saturday night 2-0. The Gyrenes had trouble getting their offense going in the match, spending the majority of the game on their side of the pitch.
Saturday night was Senior Night for the Gyrenes as it was their final weekend home game of the season. Before the match, Ave Maria honored seven of the seniors on the team.
Florida Memorial scored their first goal of the match in the 11
th minute after a broken play left their leading goal scorer Nasreddine Benbella behind the defense with the ball. Benbella tucked the ball under the crossbar from a tough angle for the goal.
About 14 minutes later, the Lions had another chance to extend their lead with Frank Sanchez getting by Ave Maria keeper Andrija Vujakovic and taking a shot at what appeared to be an open net. Luckily for the Gyrenes, Luis Mendoza came rushing it at the last minute and made a sliding save to keep the ball from crossing the line. The ball bounced off Mendoza's leg and right into the awaiting arms of Vujakovic, who fell on the ball to end the play.
Ave Maria registered six shots in the first half, but only one was on goal off a free kick from Nikolas Briceno. The attempt was saved by the Lions' keeper to keep it a 1-0 game.
In the second half, Florida Memorial even greater control of the ball, outshooting Ave Maria 13 to two. Again, only one shot was on goal for the Gyrenes with Grant Goduti directing a shot towards the net. However, what would have been the equalizer was saved by the Florida Memorial goalie.
In the 89
th minute, Florida Memorial scored their second goal of the match and closed the door on the Gyrenes.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 6-8-2 overall and 1-5 in conference play and stays at three points in the standings. The Florida Memorial win clinched a spot in the Sun Conference tournament for the Lions, leaving just two spots left to be claimed between Ave Maria, New College, Southeastern, Warner and Webber. New College leads the pack with nine points, Southeastern is next with seven, followed by Ave Maria with three and Warner and Webber tied for last with zero. Ave Maria's best path to postseason soccer is beating Webber and hoping New College loses to Florida Memorial which would set up a winner clinches match between the Gyrenes and the Mighty Banyans in the final game of the regular season.
Before Ave Maria looks ahead to that match though, they need to focus on their next one. The Gyrenes will take on the Webber Warriors Wednesday, October 22. Webber is currently winless in conference play at 0-5 and is 3-10-1 overall. It is a must-win game for Ave Maria to stay alive in the playoff hunt. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
