Nease alum Allison Fifield with 2 CTOs

via Ave Maria press release/website

BOX SCORE

Gyrenes Nearly Upset No. 4 SCAD

HARDEEVILLE, S.C. — The Ave Maria Gyrenes came back down six goals to tie the number four team in the country, before ultimately falling to the SCAD Bees 16-13 Wednesday afternoon. The Gyrenes played arguably their best quarter of the season and in the third frame and put out a statement to all other SUN Conference teams.

SCAD opened the scoring, netting the first two goals of the game. Ave Maria responded, tying the game with goals from Monrae Prentice and Abbey Seiler. The Bees tacked on two more goals toward the end of the frame to take a 4-2 lead at the quarter break.

In the second quarter, SCAD scored the first four goals to take their biggest lead of the day, 8-2. With five minutes left in the half, Ave Maria began their comeback. Orianna Eldridge started the rally with her first goal of the game, assisted by Alexandra Mazurczak. Seiler connected for her second goal of the game in the final minute, cutting the lead down to four heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, Ave Maria played arguably their best quarter of the season, outscoring the nationally recognized Bees 6-2 to tie the game at 10. Anna Bocchino opened the scoring with an unassisted goal in the first few minutes. The two teams then went back-and-forth, with SCAD keeping their four goal lead they had at halftime.

In the final ten minutes of the quarter, the Gyrenes surged to tie the game. Four unanswered goals from Ave Maria to end the quarter knotted the game up at 10. Seiler got two of the goals, with Bocchino and Eldridge scoring the other two.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Gyrenes felt really good, but SCAD held them at bay and never let Ave Maria take the lead. The Bees outscored the Gyrenes 5-1 in the first nine minutes of the quarter to jump ahead 15-11. Ave Maria got two more goals in the final five minutes, but it wasn’t enough to get back in the game. When the final horn sounded, the Bees escaped with a 16-13 win.

Seiler led the team with five goals, a season-high for her. Bocchino and Eldridge were the other two Gyrenes with multiple goals. Hannah Shaffrey, Lily Hynds, and Prentice all got a goal to round out the scoring.

Between the pipes, Emily Durr played all 60 minutes and made 11 saves, her second double-digit save performance of the season.

With the loss, the Gyrenes fall to 4-4 and 1-1 in conference play. The Gyrenes now get a week off for Easter before returning back to the field. Ave Maria’s next game is April 3 at home against the Keiser Seahawks. KU is ranked eighth in the NAIA Top 10 polls and is currently 5-5 and 0-1 in conference play. The Seahawks have two games on the schedule before making the trip across Alligator Alley to Ave Maria. Opening draw is set for 6 p.m. and can be streamed for free on the Sun Digital Network.