AVE MARIA, Fla. — The No. 10 Ave Maria Lacrosse team opened the 2025 season at home Wednesday night against the No. 7 Keiser Seahawks. The Gyrenes were leading at halftime, but the Seahawks outscored them 11-3 in the final 30 minutes to win 14-7.
The first half was very low scoring as the goalies and defense for both teams held the offense in check.
The Gyrenes opened the scoring a little over 10 minutes into the first quarter with Hannah Shaffrey finding the back of the net off a nice feed from Anna Bocchino. Shaffrey was crashing in front of the circle when Bocchino riffled the ball to her and the senior buried it in the net.
Freshman Francesca Pieniadz started in goal for the Gyrenes in her first ever collegiate lacrosse game and made four saves in the opening frame. Keiser did strike twice in the final three minutes of the quarter to take a 2-1 lead at the break.
The second quarter was the best frame for the Gyrenes as they outscored the Seahawks 3-1. Ave Maria scored all three goals in a row as they held Keiser scoreless for 14 minutes of the quarter.
Alexandra Mazurczak scored the first goal of the quarter to even up the game at two. Mazurczak got a nice pass from Shaffrey to find the back of the net.
Abigail Seiler put the Gyrenes on top with the next goal. Continuing the trend of the previous goal scorer getting the next assist, Mazurczak scooped up a ground ball after a free position shot and found Seiler right in front of the goal for the score.
The final goal of the quarter was from Bocchino assisted by Shaffrey as the two swapped roles from the opening goal.
The Bocchino goal put the Gyrenes up 4-2 over the Seahawks, but then things started to slowly fall apart.
Keiser scored a goal in the final minute of the second quarter to make the halftime score 4-3. The Seahawks then scored the first two goals of the second quarter to take a one-goal lead.
A Mazurczak goal tied things up for a moment, but just 16 seconds later, Keiser found the back of the net to retake the lead. The Seahawks scored two more times in the third to take an 8-5 lead.
The goals kept coming for the Seahawks in the fourth quarter while the Gyrenes were coming up empty. Keiser scored five goals in a row to start the final frame, taking an eight-goal lead.
Shaffrey got two goals back-to-back in the final three minutes of the game but the deficit was to big to overcome.
Keiser struck one final time with just one second on the clock to make the final score 14-7.
Shaffrey led the team with six points, three goals and three assists. Five points brings her career total to 162, just six points away from tying head coach Katelyn Sherman for the most career points in Ave Maria history.
Mazurczak and Bocchino were the two other Gyrenes with multiple points in the game, Mazurczak with two goals and an assist for three points and Bocchino with a goal and an assist for two points.
Between the pipes, Pieniadz made 11 saves against 25 shots faced.
With the loss, the Gyrenes start 2025 off 0-1.
Ave Maria is back in action Saturday, February 15, as they take on an NCAA opponent in the Lynn Fighting Knights. It is the first time the Gyrenes are playing the Knights since 2022. The opening draw is set for 12 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
