MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team notched a huge win against the St. Thomas Bobcats Thursday evening, winning 17-4. Not only was it the fourth largest margin of victory of the season for the Gyrenes, but it was also their ninth win of the year, breaking the school record for wins in a season.
Ave Maria started the match with all of the momentum, scoring six goals in the first quarter. Five of the six goals were off the stick of Alex Mazurczak. Annie Dhabliwala scored the other goal and assisted on three of Mazurczak's scores to get her point total up.
The Gyrenes kept the ball in the offensive zone for most of the frame, taking 15 shots in the first quarter and allowing just one from the Bobcats.
The Bobcats started to match the Gyrenes in the second quarter with each team scoring two goals. St. Thomas opened the scoring in the quarter to get on the board for the first time in the match.
Dhabliwala immediately responded 14 seconds later to put the Gyrenes back on top by six goals.
After St. Thomas scored their second goal of the frame, Allison Fifield scored her first goal of the game and gave the Gyrenes an 8-2 lead going into the break.
The Bobcats scored the first goal out of halftime, but Ave Maria finished the third quarter with five straight goals. Dhabliwala scored two of them with the other three coming from Sophie Paige, Angelina Diesslin and Fifield. Dhabliwala's first goal of the quarter actually came while the Gyrenes were down a player due to a green card. The senior's second goal was the final score of the frame and put Ave Maria up by 10 to start the running clock.
In the fourth quarter, Ave Maria scored four more times to St. Thomas' one goal. Mazurczak scored two of the four goals with the other two coming from Maura Barnes and Fifield again. Mazurczak's final goal was her seventh of the game, setting a new career high for her.
Individually, Mazurczak and Dhabliwala tied for the team lead in points with seven. Dhabliwala got her seven points from four goals and three assists. Fifield was next on the team with five points, followed by Paige and Diesslin with two.
In the midfield, Haley Chapman led the team with eight draw controls as the Gyrenes out drew St. Thomas 15-7.
Defensively, Elie Coyle led the team with four caused turnovers and five ground balls. Fifield and Chapman also caused multiple turnovers, each with three.
In goal, Francesca Peiniadz made two saves to earn her ninth win of the season, setting new program record for goalie wins.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Nine wins in a program record for wins in a season, passing the previous high of eight wins set in 2025. At 3-2 in conference play, AMU is now tied with Life for third place in the Sun Conference standings and owns the tiebreaker having won the head-to-head matchup April 16.
The Gyrenes are back home for their final game of the regular season as they play host to the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. The final game will also be senior day as the Gyrenes honor the upperclassmen on the roster. The regular season finale is set for Saturday, April 25, with opening draw at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
