AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team dropped their first game of the season Tuesday afternoon, falling to the Florida College Falcons 3-0. The Gyrenes ran into card trouble in the second half, adding another layer of difficulty to the game.

Florida College struck twice in the first half to take an early 2-0 lead. The two goals were separated by just four minutes, quickly putting Ave Maria behind the eight ball.

AMU received two yellow cards in the final 20 minutes of the half, one to Giuseppe Baker and one to Mateo Rolon.

In the second half, Rolon received his second yellow card, leading to a red card and an ejection. It was the first red card of the sophomore's career at Ave Maria and the first red card against the Gyrenes since September 18, 2024.

For the final 39 minutes of the match, the Gyrenes played a man down.

Florida College added their final goal just a few minutes after the ejection to take a 3-0 lead.

The Gyrenes were outshot 7-2 in the second half while being down a player. Of their two shots, a defender blocked one and the other was saved by the keeper. For the whole match, Ave Maria was outshot 16-7.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 0-1-1 to start the season.

The Gyrenes are back in action Monday, September 1, for a Labor Day clash with Florida National. The Conquistadors tied the St. Thomas Bobcats 1-1 to open their season and will take on another Sun Conference opponent in Warner Friday, August 29, before playing the Gyrenes. In total, FNU opens 2025 with eight straight matches against Sun Conference opponents while being a part of the Continental Athletic Conference themselves. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.