WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Ave Maria Lacrosse team got a dominant win over the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans Thursday afternoon, winning 19-7 in the Sun Conference Quarterfinals to move onto the Semifinals. Junior Lily Hynds logged a career-high nine points and led the offensive charge for the Gyrenes.
The Gyrenes scored the first seven goals of the contest as they raced out to an enormous lead. Hynds netted the opening goal just 66 seconds into regulation.
Annie Dhabliwala was next to get on the board and was followed by a goal from Alexandra Mazurczak. Hynds netted the next two goals, getting assists from Allison Fifield and Sophie Paige, to put Ave Maria up 5-0.
The final two goals in the first quarter from the Gyrenes came from Dhabliwala and Mazurczak again.
New College got a goal back in the frame, but at the end of the first 15 minutes, the Gyrenes led 7-1.
The second quarter was the lowest scoring frame of the game, with just three combined goals from the two teams. Hynds got her fourth goal of the game at the start of the quarter, but then the two teams canceled each other out for 11 minutes. Francesca Pieniadz made two saves during the stretch, including a stop on a free position shot.
However, New College found the back of the net for their second goal of the game with just under three minutes left to play in the half.
As time wound down, the Gyrenes made one more offensive push and Hynds cashed in on a pass from Angelina Diesslin for her fifth goal of the half. Ave Maria then took a 9-2 lead into the break.
AMU was back to normal in the third quarter as they outscored New College 6-3. Dhabliwala opened the scoring in the second half with a goal just 16 seconds into the frame.
The Mighty Banyans got it back a minute later, but then the Gyrenes scored four straight from Fifield, Mazurczak and Dhabliwala, who scored the final two goals of the stretch. The former of the two started the running clock for the Gyrenes and the latter gave the mercy rule a little breathing room.
New College netted two goals in the final minutes of the third quarter, but they were split by yet another goal by Hynds and the Gyrenes led 15-5 at the end of the three.
Ave Maria doubled up New College one more time in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Mighty Banyans 4-2. Diesslin scored her first goal of the game to get the party started, followed by strikes from Mazurczak and for the last time Hynds. New College scored their final two goals within a minute of each other, but Fifield got the last laugh, scoring the final goal with under two minutes left to play.
When the final horn sounded, Ave Maria walked off with a 19-7 win.
Hynds led the team with nine points off seven goals and two assists. Dhabliwala was second on the team with five points, followed by Mazurczak and Fifield at four and Diesslin and Paige at three.
In the midfield, Dhabliwala led the team with nine draw controls, followed closely by Haley Chapman with eight. As a team, the Gyrenes outdrew New College 20-8.
Defensively, Chapman led the team with six caused turnovers, which is tied for the third-most in a single game in program history. Elie Coyle, Hynds and Fifield also recorded multiple caused turnovers. Chapman led the team with five ground balls.
In goal, Pieniadz made five saves as she won her record setting 11
th game.
With the win, Ave Maria improves to 11-5 overall and moves onto the Sun Conference Semifinals. Awaiting them there is the tournament host and seconded seeded Keiser Seahawks. The Gyrenes and Seahawks played a tough match in the regular season with Keiser winning 15-11.
Opening draw is set for 3 p.m. again and the match will be streamed live on the Urban Edge Network.
