WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —- For the second time this season, the Ave Maria Lacrosse team was leading the Keiser Seahawks by one at halftime. And for the second time this season, a slow third quarter hurt the Gyrenes and propelled the Seahawks in front. Thursday was almost an exact copy of the season opener for Ave Maria as they fell to the Seahawks 14-8.
Keiser, who came into the match ranked No. 1 in the country, scored the first two goals of the match to open the scoring 2-0.
Lily Hynds got the first goal for the Gyrenes, finding the back of the net off a pass from Claire Ichniowski. Keiser responded a couple of minutes later to build back a two-goal lead.
Anna Bocchino got the second goal for the Gyrenes just 28 seconds after the Keiser goal. Her goal was off a free position shot after receiving a tough check inside the eight-meter arc.
Keiser got the last goal of the quarter to get back up by two goals.
The second quarter was the best frame of the game for the Gyrenes as they outscored Keiser 4-1. Abbey Seiler scored the first goal of the quarter while Ave Maria was on a two-man advantage after back-to-back green cards assessed to Keiser. Seiler received the ball right in front of the net off a pass from Shaffrey and buried it down low for the score.
Just 45 seconds later and still on the man advantage, Bocchino got another free position shot and slung the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal to tie the game at four. The goal gave Bocchino her seventh multi-goal game of the season and her fourth in a row.
Keiser got a goal a minute after the Bocchino goal to retake the lead, but Shaffrey quickly tied it up with her first goal of the game. Shaffrey's goal was the third free position goal of the game for Ave Maria.
With 82 seconds left in the first half, Seiler got her second goal of the game to give Ave Maria their first lead of the game. Again on the man-advantage, this time after a yellow card given to the Seahawks, Seiler crashed the net. got a nice feed from Shaffrey and snuck the ball past the goalie. That made it Seiler's 11th multi-goal game of the season and fifth in a row.
The Gyrenes closed half strong with a save from Emily Durr and they took a 6-5 lead into the break.
Right after their best quarter of the game, the Gyrenes had their worst quarter of the game. Keiser outscored the Gyrenes 5-0 in the third to jump out to a 10-6 lead. Ave Maria did not get a shot on goal in the frame while Keiser took eight.
The Gyrenes played better in the fourth quarter, scoring two goals, but the Seahawks continued to outpace Ave Maria as they scored four goals.
Seiler opened the scoring and scored another man-advantage goal off a feed from Shaffrey. Keiser responded to get their four-goal lead back. Alexandra Mazurczak scored the final goal of the game for Ave Maria off a free position shot. As a team, the Gyrenes finished 4-for-11 on free position shots.
Keiser scored the final three goals of the game to win 14-8.
Shaffrey led the team with four points off one goal and three assists. Two other Gyrenes had multi-point games with Seiler at three and Bocchino at two. All of their points were off goals.
In the midfield, Haley Chapman led the team with six draw controls. Defensively, Elie Coyle was the only Gyrene with multiple caused turnovers at two. In goal, Durr stopped 12 shots but got the loss as 14 got by. She faced 26 shots on goal in the game, which is the most an opponent has taken on the Gyrenes this season since March 4 when Benedictine took 29.
With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 6-8 overall and 4-2 in conference play. The loss locks Ave Maria into either the third or fourth seed in the Sun Conference Tournament, meaning the Gyrenes will host a quarterfinal game Tuesday, April 15.
Before the playoffs start though, the Gyrenes have one more game on the schedule. The season finale is Saturday, April 12, at home against the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. This is the first season of lacrosse for New College, and they are currently 1-7 overall and 0-6 in conference play. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
