AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team finished the regular season in style with a big 19-6 win over the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. Ave Maria raced out to a 12-goal lead in the first half and cruised with a running clock through the final two quarters.
Before the match, Ave Maria celebrated Senior Day and honored the six seniors, Lia Shaw, Alli Fifield, Annie Dhabliwala, Sophie Paige, Kylie Tittinger and Anna Bocchnio, and one graduate student in Elie Coyle. All seven players made the starting lineup as well, with two even battling through injury to play.
Before they could play though, the match entered a lightning delay for over an hour and a half. When the electricity in the sky finally ceased, the Gyrenes took the field with a huge spark of their own.
Fifield opened the scoring in the second minute of the game and the Gyrenes did not look back. Ave Maria outscored New College 6-0 in the first frame, getting a second goal from Fifield, two from Lily Hynds, and one from Dhabliwala and Maura Barnes.
The second quarter was even higher scoring for the Gyrenes as they netted seven goals. Barnes got her second of the match to start the scoring just 29 seconds into the frame. Fifield added two more goals to bring her game total up to four. Dhabliwala got her second goal of the game while Alexandra Mazurczak, Paige and Angelina Deislinn each got their first goals.
New College scored their lone goal of the half in between Fifield's third goal and Paige's lone goal, but the Gyrenes still went into the locker room up 13-1 and with the running clock rolling.
The Mighty Banyans showed a little life at the start of the third quarter, scoring the first three goals of the match. That brought the margin back to single digits and stopped the clock momentarily.
Ave Maria needed just a minute to get the clock running again as goalie Francesca Pieniadz swapped positions for a few minutes and scored her first ever collegiate goal. After scoring, Pieniadz went back to the crease and allowed just two more goal to the Mighty Banyans.
Ave Maria netted two more goals before the quarter elapsed and took a 16-4 lead into the final frame.
The Gyrenes outscored New College 3-2 in the final 15 minutes of the game. All three goals are off the stick of Dhabliwala. The Mighty Banyans scored twice in the final frame, but that was not enough to turn the tide of the match.
When the final horn sounded, Ave Maria walked off with a big win for their seniors in the final game at Gyrene Field.
"Each [senior] was able to step on the field, whether it be for a little bit or more than they're used to. We had some adversity and injuries in the group and so just seeing then on the field in uniform was a really great feeling for the team and myself," said head coach Katelyn Sherman.
Three of the six seniors led the team in points. Dhabliwala led the way with seven points off five goals and two assists. Paige was next on the team with one goal and five assists for six points, followed Fifield with five points off five goals. Barnes and Hynds were the final two Gyrenes to record multi-point games.
In the midfield, Haley Chapman led the team with eight draw controls. As a team, Ave Maria outdrew New College 22-5.
Defensively, four different players logged two caused turnovers in the game and four Gyrenes logged three ground balls.
In goal, Pieniadz made eight stops against 11 shots posting a .727 save percentage.
With the win, Ave Maria finishes the regular season with a record of 10-5 and conference play at 4-2.
The Gyrenes are back in action Thursday, April 30, as they take on New College of Florida again in the Sun Conference quarterfinals. If they win, they have a date with the Keiser Seahawks waiting for them in the semifinals. All games of the tournament will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
