ST. LOUIS — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team dropped their tightest game of the season so far, losing to the No. 7 Missouri Baptist Spartans 15-13. Ave Maria had a one-goal lead late in the fourth quarter, but couldn't hang on the Spartans scored four goals in two minutes to win the game.
Abbey Seiler scored the last two goals of the first quarter to give Ave Maria a narrow 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Her first goal was unassisted while the second was off a nice pass from Haley Chapman to put the Gyrenes on top. Hannah Shaffrey netted the first goal in the quarter.
The Spartans scored the opening goal of the second quarter to tie the game at 3. The game remained tied for eight minutes until Anna Bocchino scored her first goal of the game to put AMU up 4-3. The Gyrenes led for three minutes, but then Spartans struck three times in the final two minutes to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.
Missouri Baptist scored the first three goals of the third quarter to make the score 9-4 and make it a 6-0 run for the Spartans.
The Gyrenes finally got back on the board with another Shaffrey goal with 6:25 left in the quarter.
After a responding goal from the Spartans, the Gyrenes went on a big run themselves, scoring the next five goals in a row to tie the game at 10. The run started with 4:59 left in the third quarter and ended two and half minutes into the fourth quarter. Bocchino led the way for the Gyrenes during the run, scoring three goals. Seiler and Annie Dhabliwala also got a goal, with Dhabliwala getting the tying goal.
Missouri Baptist retook the lead with a goal for a moment, but the Gyrenes responded with back-to-back goals from Dhabliwala and Lily Hynds to take a 12-11 lead. Hynds scored her goal with 6;22 left to play in the game.
The Gyrenes tried to hang on to the lead, but Spartans struck four times in two minutes to take a 15-12 lead.
Ave Maria got a final goal in the last second of the game from Shaffrey, but the game had already been sealed by the Spartans.
Shaffrey led the team in points with five off three goals and two assists. Bocchino led the team in scoring with four goals. Three other Gyrenes had multi-point games with Seiler at three and Dhabliwala and Hynds at two.
In net, Emily Durr made a season-high nine saves.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 1-6 on the year.
Ave Maria returns home to Gyrene Field for their next game after five straight matches on the road. The Gyrenes will host the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels Wednesday, March 12. It is the second ever matchup between Ave Maria and Oglethorpe, with the first being a 16-11 win last season. The opening draw is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
