OTTAWA, Kan. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team got their first win of the season Sunday afternoon, beating the Ottawa Braves 17-8. Ave Maria outscored the Braves in every quarter, but it was the third quarter when the Gyrenes really pulled away, increasing their two-goal lead to an eight-goal lead.
The Gyrenes outscored Ottawa 4-3 in the opening 15 minutes. Four different players netted the four goals for AMU. Alexandra Mazurczak opened the scoring 66 seconds into the game with an unassisted goal. After Ottawa got a goal back, Lilly Hynds and Hannah Shaffrey went back-to-back to give Ave Maria a two-goal lead. Mazurczak assisted on the Hynds goal.
The final goal of the quarter was scored by Anna Bocchino, assisted by Hannah Shaffrey. The Bocchino goal was sandwiched in between two Braves goals, the second of which was scored with 17 seconds left on the clock.
The second quarter was just as tight as the first, with the Gyrenes getting a narrow 3-2 advantage in the frame. Ottawa scored the first goal of the quarter to tie the game at four. The two teams remained square for over five minutes until the Gyrenes finally broke the tie. Hynds scored back-to-back goals in the span of six seconds to put the Gyrenes back in front by two. Her first goal was assisted by Mazurczak and the second by Shaffrey.
The two teams traded goals in the last five minutes of the quarter, with Abbey Seiler striking for Ave Maria for her first goal of the game. She was assisted by Shaffrey. Heading into the break, the Gyrenes had a 7-5 lead.
The third quarter was the best 15 minutes of the season so far as Ave Maria held the Braves scoreless while striking for six goals of their own. Seiler and Bocchino led the way in the frame, each with two goals. Hynds got her fourth goal of the game as well. All five of those goals were on a man advantage thanks to some cards assessed to the Braves. Mazurczak scored the final goal of the quarter that put Ave Maria up 13-5. All six goals were scored in the first seven minutes and 15 seconds of the frame.
Defensively, Ave Maria caused five turnovers in the quarter and goalie Emily Durr stopped the two shots she faced.
Shaffrey had two assists in the third quarters while Claire Ichniowski and Annie Dhabliwala each got their first points of the game with an assist as well.
The fourth quarter was like the first two, Ave Maria scoring one more goal than Ottawa. The Gyrenes led the quarter 4-3. Hynds notched two more goals in the quarter while Shaffrey and Bocchino scored the other two. Shaffrey assisted on both of Hynds goals.
Hynds led the team in scoring with a career-high six goals. She quadrupled her season total of goals, coming into the game with just two and is now at eight.
Shaffrey led the team in points with nine, scoring two goals and notching seven assists. Seven assists in one game is a new program record, passing the previous record of six she set against St. Thomas March 18, 2023. Nine points is tied for the fourth-most in program history as well.
Three other Gyrenes had multi-point games with Bocchino and Mazurczak at four and Seiler at three.
In net, Durr played all 60 minutes and made five saves in her first win of the year.
The win is the Gyrenes' first of the year and their record improves to 1-4.
Ave Maria as on the road for two more games in Middle America, first taking on the No. 5 Benedictine Ravens in Atchison, Kansas. It is the first meeting between the Ravens and the Gyrenes since Benedictine visited Ave Maria as the No. 1 team in the country in 2023 and the Gyrenes beat them 14-12. The opening draw is set for 5 p.m. eastern, 4 p.m. central, and the game will be streamed live on the Heart Conference Network. The link to the stream can be found on the schedule page.
