AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Men's Soccer team trailed 2-1 at the break Wednesday night but that did not get their spirits down. The Gyrenes netted a quick goal in the early minutes of the second half and then scored the game winner with less than nine minutes remaining in the match to beat the Webber Warriors 3-2.
Before the match started, the Gyrenes honored the nine seniors on the 2026 squad as Wednesday was the last home game of the regular season.
The scoring started very early for the Gyrenes. In the opening seconds, Daniel Bourgeious took a shot that was saved by the Webber keeper but went out of bounds setting up a Gyrene corner kick. It was on that kick that Mateo Rolon scored an Olympic goal, which is the rare feat of scoring from the corner. It is Rolon's sixth goal of the season and the 21
st goal of his career.
However, the lead did not last long as Webber scored an equalizer in the 12
th minute and took a 2-1 lead in the 22
nd minute. Webber tried to add to their lead even more in the later minutes of the half, but keeper Noah Balyeat made three straight saves to end the frame.
Ave Maria logged just one more shot on goal in the first half, but it was saved by the Warriors' keeper. Heading into the break, the Gyrenes found themselves trailing 2-1.
The Gyrenes came out firing in the second half, with a shot from Rolon going high of the net just six seconds into the frame. Ave Maria kept the pressure up and was rewarded with a goal in the 51
st minute. Rolon shot the ball down low in front of the net were Sava Cadjenovic was waiting. The junior poked his foot out at the last minute to deflect the ball into the top corner and tie the match at two.
It was the 25
th career goal for Cadjenovic, putting him two away from tying the program record for career goals. It was also the 10
th career assist for Rolon.
In a tied ball game, emotions started to run hot as the referee assessed five yellow cards, four to the Warriors and one to the Gyrenes. The fifth and final yellow card set up a free kick that proved to be the difference maker. Rolon shot the ball in deep when graduate student Luis Mendoza headed the ball to a wide open Nicholas Chowtee. The senior transfer was all alone behind the defense and side kicked the ball for the game-winner. It was the first goal of the season for Chowtee and the second ever career assist for Mendoza.
Webber received one more yellow card and two reds as the Gyrenes closed out the final nine minutes to secure their first Sun Conference win of the season. It was also the first time Ave Maria has won a game after trailing at halftime since the Gyrenes beat the same Webber Warriors 2-1 on October 28, 2020.
"I am really happy we got back onto the winning track," said head coach Dariel Collazo. "The main reason [we came back] was the entire team stuck together. We spoke at halftime and we're trying to figure it out how to return to the offensive part of the game and we ended up making some subs and rotations that worked it out in the end. So, we are happy with the result and defiantly coming back, bouncing back, from being behind is great."
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 7-9-1 overall and 1-5-1 in conference play. Unfortunately, the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans won on Wednesday, officially eliminating the Gyrenes from postseason contention.
The Gyrenes will close the season out against the Mighty Banyans Wednesday, October 28. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the match will be streamed live on the Sun Digital Network.
