AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team got their first win at home on Gyrene Field Wednesday night, beating the NCAA Division III Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels 13-8. The Gyrenes scored in bunches against the Stormy Petrels, with two four-goal runs throughout the match.
The Gyrenes scored the first two goals of the game 29 seconds apart just two minutes into the match. Abbey Seiler opened the scoring with an unassisted goal, followed by Hannah Shaffrey, who was also unassisted. Anna Bocchino added a third goal to the Gyrenes total about seven minutes later, assisted by Shaffrey.
Oglethorpe responded with two goals of their own to get back within one of the Gyrenes, but that was as close as the Stormy Petrels would get.
Alexandra Mazurczak put the Gyrenes back up by two with a goal in the final minute of the quarter. Shaffrey got her second assist on the Mazurczak goal.
The second quarter was almost identical to the first with Ave Maria scoring three straight goals. Annie Dhabliwala got the first strike for the Gyrenes on a man advantage, followed by two straight goals from Mazurczak. Lily Hynds got her first point of the night with an assist on the Dhabliwala goal while Shaffrey got another assist on Mazurczak's first goal. The three goals were part of a four goal run for Ave Maria, putting them up 7-2 with a little under 10 minutes left to play in the half.
Again, just like the first quarter, the Stormy Petrels scored two goals of their own to make it 7-4.
Seiler got the final tally of the half with an unassisted goal to put Ave Maria up 8-4.
Out of halftime, the Gyrenes scored three more times to open the third quarter get out to a seven-goal lead, their largest of the night. Three different players got on the score sheet for Ave Maria with Dhabliwala scoring the first, Shaffrey scoring the second and Hynds scoring the third. Shaffrey assisted on the Dhabliwala goal while Bocchino got an assist on the Hynds goal.
Up 11-4, the Gyrenes cruised for the rest of the game. Oglethorpe got a late tally at the end of the third quarter and then three goals to start the fourth, but the game never really was in doubt.
Hynds scored back-to-back goals in the final five minutes to ice the game and give Ave Maria the 13-8 win.
Shaffrey led the team with six points off two goals and four assists. Five other Gyrenes had multi-point games with Hynds at four, Dhabliwala and Mazurczak at three and Bocchino and Seiler at two. Defensively, Elie Coyle led the team with five caused turnovers. In the midfield, Seiler led the team with seven draw controls. In net, Emily Durr got her second win of the season, stopping a season-high 12 shots.
The win moves Ave Maria's record to 2-6 overall and 1-2 at home. AMU is also now 2-0 all time against the Stormy Petrels.
Wednesday was the final non-conference game of the season for the Gyrenes who now turn their attention to the Sun Conference. League play begins Saturday, March 15, on the road at the Life Running Eagles. Life is currently ranked eighth in the NAIA Top 10 polls and is 3-3 on the year. The opening draw is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on Life's YouTube channel. The link can be found on the Lacrosse schedule page on www.avemariagyrenes.com.
