AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team got a big win over the St. Thomas Bobcats Tuesday, winning 17-5. For the second game in a row, the Gyrenes got up by 10 goals before the end of the first half to start a running clock.
The Gyrenes scored the first three goals of the game, getting two from Lily Hynds and one from Abigail Seiler. Alexandra Mazurczak assisted on Hynds' first goal to open the scoring while the other two were unassisted.
After the Bobcats got a goal back, Hynds quickly got her third goal of the game off an assist from Hannah Shaffrey.
St. Thomas scored one more goal to make it 4-2 before the Gyrenes went on 5-0 run across the end of the first quarter and the start of the second. Shaffrey had two of the goals for the Gyrenes while Mazurczak, Seiler and Anna Bocchino got the other three. Seiler's goal was even while the Gyrenes were a man down.
St. Thomas scored their final goal of the half near the midway point of the second quarter. Ave Maria closed the quarter out with four more goals to take a 13-3 lead at the break. Mazurczak had three of the four goals in that stretch with Annie Dhabliwala scoring the other to get on the scoresheet for the first time. Mazurczak's final goal of the stretch started the running clock with the Gyrenes up by 10.
Things settled down in the second half for both teams. St. Thomas never got back within single digits to stop the running clock for the final 30 minutes of the game. Ave Maria outscored them 2-0 in the third quarter with goals from Hynds and Seiler.
In the fourth quarter, the two teams matched each other in goals with Bocchino and Mazurczak scoring the final goals for the Gyrenes.
Mazurczak led the team with six points (five goals and one assist), tying her career high. Hynds was right behind her with five points off four goals and an assist. Other Gyrenes with multi-point games were Shaffrey with four (2-2--4), Sieler with four (3-1--4) and Bocchino with two (2-0--2).
In the midfield, Hynds led the team with eight draw controls. Defensively, four Gyrenes tied for the team lead in caused turnovers with two. Elie Coyle led the team with five ground balls.
In goal, Emily Durr made her ninth start and got her fifth win, stopping seven shots for a .583 save percentage.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 5-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play. The Gyrenes are tied with the SCAD Bees for second in the conference, however the Bees own the tiebreaker having won the head-to-head earlier in the year.
The Gyrenes are back home Saturday, April 5, for their second to last home game of the season. Ave Maria will play host to the Webber Warriors who are 1-2 in conference play. Saturday is Senior Day for the Gyrenes as they honor the six the seniors on the roster. Senior Day festivities will begin around 3:30 with opening draw set for 4 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
