AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer put up valiant effort Wednesday night in the conference opener, battling both the Fire and rain, but ultimately lost 2-1. The Gyrenes controlled the ball for much of the second half but could not find the equalizing goal as Southeastern escaped with the win.

The Fire opened the scoring in the 10^th minute, lighting up the scoreboard on a free kick just inside the penalty area. The Gyrenes played a disciplined game Wednesday, getting called for just 11 fouls to Southeastern's 14. However, their first foul of the night stung them and led to a Southeastern goal.

The lead only lasted 61 seconds though as Ave Maria responded almost instantly. Hayden Wysocki started the play by crossing the ball into the box. The Southeastern goalie charged out from the net to try and cut the pass off but did not get a clean hold the ball. Instead, he just slowed its momentum down as it bounced past him. Charging from the top of the box was Sava Cadjenovic who handled the bouncing ball and slammed it to the back of the net. It was the 11^th goal of the season for Cadjenovic who now leads the team.

The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the first half, but the score remained knotted at one. In the final minute of the first half, Southeastern struck for the second time to regain the lead. The Fire's second goal was off a corner kick. The initial header shot did not have enough momentum to reach the net, but the Fire forward shot it again to grab a 2-1 lead.

As soon as the second half started, the heavy rain clouds that had been avoiding Gyrene Field for the entire first half began to dump buckets of rain. The match played on though as there was no lightning in the area and the Gyrenes even seemed to play better in the rain.

Ave Maria outshot Southeastern 16-5 in the second half. The Gyrenes also led in shots on goal, directing six shots on target to the Fire's two. However, none of those shots found the back of the net to even up the game.

The Gyrenes had four really good chances all in the final ten minutes of the match, but an open look at the net went wide and the other three shots were all saved. In the 82^nd minute, Daniel Bourgeois got a header past the Fire goalie, but a charging Southeastern defender rushed in at the last second and headed the ball out of bounds to make the save.

Ave Maria's last shot was with 15 seconds left on the clock, but the Fire keeper made one final save to end the game.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 5-4-2 overall and begins conference play 0-1.

The Gyrenes are on the road for their next match, traveling east to Miami Gardens to take on the St. Thomas Bobcats Saturday. St. Thomas got their first win of the conference season Wednesday night, beating the Florida Memorial Lions. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.