via Ave Maria press release/website

BOX SCORE

AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Gyrene lacrosse team played a strong game against the #8 Marian Knights Monday night, but couldn’t make up for a bad first quarter and lost 11-9.

The first quarter was all MU as the Knights scored the first four goals of the game. The Gyrenes finally got on the board just about ten minutes into the game with back-to-back goals from Abigail Seiler and Lily Hynds. Marian closed out the quarter with two more goals to regain their four goal lead.

The final three quarters were much tighter than the first, with Ave Maria scoring more goals than Marian in two of them.

In the second, the two teams traded goals in the opening five minutes, with Hannah Shaffrey cashing in for the Gyrenes. Towards the middle of the frame, Anna Bocchino and Seiler scored the final two goals of the half and the Gyrenes went into the break only down two goals.

The third quarter also saw the Gyrenes outscore the Knights, with Bocchino and Shaffrey getting back on the scoresheet to just one goal for MU.

Down 8-7, the Gyrenes were feeling confident heading into the fourth quarter, but the Knights did just enough to always stay ahead of AMU. Marian opened the final quarter with an early goal and then sat back and played good defense, causing three turnovers and making one save.

Marian tallied one more goal to their total to go up by three and it would eventually become the game winner.

The Gyrenes scored two goals in the final seven minutes to make it interesting, but an insurance goal in between them for the Knights iced the game for Marian.

Four Gyrenes, Shaffrey, Hynds, Bocchino, and Seiler, each scored two goals with Alexandra Mazurczak scoring the ninth and final goal for Ave Maria. Shaffrey and Seiler each added an assist to tie for the team lead in points at three.

Between the pipes, junior Hannah McConologue made her first start of the season and played all 60 minutes. She stopped four of the 15 shots she faced.

As a team, the Gyrenes tied the Knights in shots and turned the ball over less times than MU. Ave Maria also won more draws and had more ground balls than Marian. It was a much improved performance compared to their season opener, despite not getting the result they wanted.

With the loss, Ave Maria falls to 0-2. The Gyrenes return to action Friday morning against the number one team in the country, the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils. Start time is set for 9:30 a.m. and the game can be streamed on the Sun Digital Network.