ATCHISON, Kan. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team took another top 10 opponent Tuesday evening, falling to the No. 5 Benedictine Ravens 20-5. Benedictine jumped on the Gyrenes early, getting out to a 13-2 lead at halftime and cruising for the rest of the game.
The Ravens score the first three goals of the game in the opening six minutes. The first goal was 54 seconds into playing and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Down 3-0, the Gyrenes scored their first goal of the game with Alexandra Mazurczak finding the back of the net off an assist from Hannah Shaffrey. Ave Maria felt good about getting back within two goals, but then the Ravens stole the show.
Benedictine scored the next 10 goals in a row to get out to a 13-1 lead. The run spanned the first and second quarters, lasting about 18 and half minutes of gameplay.
The Gyrenes scored the final goal of the half with Abbey Seiler getting an unassisted goal with a little over a minute left to play in the second quarter.
Ave Maria was held scoreless in the third quarter while Benedictine added five more goals to take an 18-2 lead.
The Gyrenes won the fourth quarter, outscoring the Ravens 3-2 in the final frame. All three goals were scored by Shaffrey and were unassisted. Her middle goal was on the man advantage the Ravens were given a yellow card. Benedictine scored in between each of Shaffrey's goals for their final two scores to win 20-5.
Shaffrey led the team in points with four, netting three goals and an assist, and was the only Gyrene with a multi-point game.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-5. Of their first six matches to start the year, three of them have been ranked in the NAIA Top 10. Of the other three, two teams were receiving votes in the poll and the other was a ranked team in the NCAA Division II poll.
The road trip comes to an end Thursday for the Gyrenes with their fifth and final game away from Gyrene Field. Ave Maria travels east to St. Louis, Missouri, to take on the sixth ranked Missouri Baptist Spartans. It is the first time since 2017 the Gyrenes will take on the Spartans. Opening draw is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Spartan Digital Network. The link can be found on the schedule page.
