AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team got back on the winning side Wednesday evening as they took down the St. Thomas Bobcats 15-7. Wednesday's game was sloppy on both sides, with 24 combined cards, but the Gyrenes toughed it out as they got a preview win over a fellow Sun Conference opponent.
The opening quarter was the best of the match for the Gyrenes, outscoring the Bobcats 5-1. Anna Bocchino netted the first two goals, followed by a strike from Maura Barnes to give AMU a 3-0 lead. St. Thomas scored their lone goal of the quarter after that and then the two teams went quiet for the next six minutes. Annie Dhabliwala was next to light up the scoreboard, finding the back of the net with 3:50 left to play. Bocchino scored the final goal of the quarter, completing a hat trick in the opening frame.
The second quarter was much quieter, with two goals apiece between the two teams. St. Thomas opened the scoring five minutes into the frame. Ave Maria did not score their first goal until four and a half minutes remained as Dhabliwala got her second of the night. St. Thomas scored their second goal to bring it back to a three-goal game, but Lily Hynds quickly responded with her first goal of the night. Ave Maria took a 7-3 lead into the break.
The third quarter was the highest scoring quarter of the night with eight combined goals. Ave Maria scored the first three off strikes from Angelina Diesslin, Bocchino and Alison Fifield. Both Diesslin's and Fifield's goals were on the man advantage for the Gyrenes.
St. Thomas scored three goals in the quarter after that, but they were interrupted by two more scores from the Gyrenes. Fifield got her second goal of the quarter, again on the man advantage, and Alex Mazurczak got her first of the game while the Gyrenes were on a disadvantage.
The advantages were a result of more cards being called in the second half. Of the 24 total cards in the game, 20 of them were called in the final two quarters. The third quarter alone had 11, six going against St. Thomas and five going against Ave Maria, leading to multiple advantage goals on both sides.
Ave Maria scored three more goals in the fourth quarter to St. Thomas' one as they cruised into victory. Nine more cards were called in the final frame, leading to two man advantage goals for the Gyrenes. Dhabliwala got the scoring started just 90 seconds into the frame. After the Bobcats scored their last goal, Ave Maria got two more strikes from Mazurczak and Dhabliwala to walk off the field with a 15-7 win. Both of Dhabliwala's goals were on the advantage.
"At the end of the day, we have some things to clean up, but I am proud of the girls for pulling out a couple slower quarters to really get the win. I think this was a good game [to know] going forward what we need to work on in practice these next coming weeks as we prep for Sun Conference games," said head coach Katelyn Sherman.
Dhabliwala led the team in scoring with five points off four goals and one assist. Bocchino also notched four goals for four points. Hynds, Fifield, Mazurczak and Sophie Paige also recorded multi-point games.
In the midfield, Haley Chapman dominated the Bobcats with 12 draw controls. It is tied for the second-most draw controls in a game in program history. As a team, Ave Maria outdrew St. Thomas 15-9.
Defensively, Chapman also led the team with three caused turnovers. Mazurczak had the most ground balls at six.
In net, Francesa Pieniadz stopped seven of 14 shots on goal to earn her second win of the season.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 2-1 overall.
The Gyrenes are back in action Tuesday, March 3, as they host the Ottawa Braves. It will be the first time since 2019 the two teams have played in Southwest Florida. The Gyrenes met the Braves in Kansas last season and won 17-8. Opening draw is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
