AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Women's Soccer team celebrated their seniors on Saturday as they took on the Florida Memorial Lions. It was a defensive battle, as neither teams could not score a goal and the Gyrenes played the Lions to a 0-0 draw.
In the first half, the Gyrenes defense held strong, led by senior goalkeeper Emma Schweitzer. Schweitzer had three saves in the first half, keeping the Lions off the scoreboard. Ave Maria had some chances at the net with shots coming from Claire Wrobleski in the 10
th minute and senior Catherine Dalton in the 26
th minute, but neither could find the back of the net. The score was all even at 0-0 going into the halftime break.
The second half was more of the same from both sides, as the defense of the Gyrenes held up strong against several chances from the Lions. Madeline Barker had a shot on goal in the 66
th minute but could not find the back of the net. Ave Maria had another chance to score goal with a header from Mia Melton in the 75
th minute, but still the Gyrenes were shut out from the net. The Gyrenes had a flurry of shots near the end of the match, with shots coming from senior Cadey Ragsdale in the 81
st minute, a header from Aviana Ferraez in the 85
th minute, and Wrobleski in the 86
th minute, but none scored.
In the closing minute of the match, Florida Memorial was awarded a penalty kick after an Ave Maria foul in the penalty box. It was just the third penalty kick attempt of the season for a Gyrene opponent, and the first since September 22 from St. Thomas. Fortunately for the Gyrenes, Florida Memorial missed the shot, clanging the ball off the crossbar and securing the draw between the two squads.
With the tie game against Florida Memorial, Ave Maria goes to 3-5-5 on the year and 0-3-3 in conference play. The Gyrenes now have three points in the Sun Conference Standings, tying them with Webber for eighth place. Ave Maria is just two points behind sixth place SCAD for the final spot in the Sun Conference Tournament, meaning AMU's postseason hopes are very alive.
The Gyrenes are on the road Wednesday for their final road game of the regular season. The Gyrenes will travel up to Babson Park to take on the Warriors whom they are tied with in the standings. The match will go a long way in deciding whose playoff hopes will remain alive. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
