MARIETTA, Ga. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team began the conference part of their schedule Saturday afternoon and got a nice win over eighth ranked Life University. The Gyrenes got a big lead in the first half and hung on to beat the Running Eagles 13-10.
Both teams scored in bunches, exchanging scoring streaks throughout the game. Ave Maria had the first such streak, scoring the first three goals of the match. Just 18 seconds into the game, Hannah Shaffrey scored the first goal. It was a wild draw to start the game, and the ball rolled down to Ave Maria's attacking zone. Annie Dhabliwala scooped it up, turned around and saw she had a two on one rush with Shaffrey. The both crashed the net, Dhabliwala flipped the ball to Shaffrey who buried it home for the score.
Ave Maria scored the next three goals of the game to get up to a 4-0 lead. All three goals were unassisted and were scored by three different players: Abbey Seiler, Claire Ichniowski and Alexandra Mazurczak.
Life responded with three goals in the final four minutes of the first quarter, and the Gyrenes took just a one goal lead into the second frame.
The second quarter was the best of the game for the Gyrenes, outscoring the Running Eagles 5-1. Ave Maria netted the first three goals of the frame, two from Ichniowski and one from Shaffrey. Both of Ichniowski's goals were assisted by Seiler and just 23 seconds apart from each other.
Life scored their lone goal to make it 7-4, but the Gyrenes found the back of the net two more times before the end of the half. Anna Bocchino got on the score sheet for the first time with a goal assisted by Shaffrey followed by an unassisted goal from Dhabliwala. The Gyrenes took a 9-4 lead into the break.
The second half got a little tricky for the Gyrenes, but they were able to hang on to the lead. Ave Maria opened the scoring in the third quarter with a goal from Lily Hynds, but then things got tough with Life striking four straight times to shrink a six-goal lead to a two-goal lead.
The Running Eagles tried to make a push in the fourth quarter, but the Gyrenes held them defensively and actually outscored Life 3-2. Mazurczak got two of the three goals for Ave Maria, sandwiching a goal from Shaffrey. Bocchino assisted on the first Mazurczak goal. Her second goal was scored with just 30 seconds left on the clock and sealed the game for the Gyrenes.
Six different Gyrenes had multi-point games. Shaffrey led the team with four, followed by Ichniowski, Mazurczak and Seiler with three and Dhabliwala and Bocchino with two. In the midfield, Haley Chapman led the team with five draw controls. On the defensive side, Seiler led the team with two caused turnovers. In net, Emily Durr got her third win of the season, stopping 10 shots. She made three saves in the fourth quarter to preserve the lead.
Saturday was Ave Maria's first win over Life since the inaugural meeting between the two teams in 2019. The Gyrenes record improves to 3-6 on the year and they begin Sun Conference play 1-0.
The Gyrenes are back home for their next match, hosting the SCAD Bees, who were ranked number one in the NAIA in the most recent coaches' poll. The Bees also won on Saturday, tying them with Ave Maria for second place in the conference. The opening draw is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
