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BOX SCORE

Lacrosse Earns Signature Win Against Keiser

AVE MARIA, Fla. — Powered by a super charged first quarter, the Ave Maria Gyrenes got a historic win Wednesday night beating the Keiser Seahawks 16-13. It is the first time in seven years that the Gyrenes have beaten KU and snaps a nine-game losing streak to the Seahawks.

The first quarter was, without a doubt, the most complete quarter the Gyrenes have played all season. Ave Maria found the back of the net eight times while holding Keiser to just two goals. Defensively, the Gyrenes caused more turnovers and kept the Seahawks from clearing twice.

Oriana Eldridge scored the first goal of the game a little under two minutes into the frame. A few minutes later, Anna Bocchino followed it up with a player advantage goal to put the Gyrenes up 2-0. Keiser got a goal back trying to breakup the Gyrenes’ momentum, but they couldn’t slow down Ave Maria.

AMU got six goals in the final six minutes to take a strong command of the game. Abbey Seiler scored twice in less than a minute to get the rally started. Alexandra Mazurczak then found the back of the net to put the Gyrenes up 5-1. After a Seahawk goal, Mazurczak struck again for her second goal. Bocchino got her second goal of the quarter a few possessions later. Finally, with a little over a minute remaining in the first, Hannah Shaffrey scored the eighth goal for the Gyrenes, putting them up 8-2.

After the eighth goal, the Seahawks made a change in goalie, taking out their starter who had played most of the season coming into this contest.

Eight goals in a quarter is the second-most for Ave Maria this season, who put up nine in the first against the Franciscan Barons.

With a six-goal lead after one quarter, the Gyrenes sat back focused on not surrendering the lead. The Gyrenes kept winning the turnover battle and did not allow Keiser many looks at the net.

Ave Maria connected twice in the second quarter on goals from Claire Ichniowski and Lily Hynds. Keiser scored three time in the frame to make the halftime score 10-5.

At the start of the third quarter, Seiler and Ichniowski both found the back of the net in the opening five minutes to give the Gyrenes a seven-goal lead, their largest of the night. For Seiler, it was her 100th career goal as a Gyrene. She is now only the third player in program history to reach triple-digits, joining Emma Davis (121) and head coach Katelyn Sherman (142).

Keiser responded with three goals of their own to make it a 12-8 game. In the final minutes, Hynds scored her second goal of the night to even out the quarter and preserve the five-lead heading into the final frame.

The Seahawks blitzed in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring two goals to make it 13-10. That would be the closest Keiser got however, as the Gyrenes kept them at bay. Shaffrey and Ichniowski scored back-to-back goals to get up to 15. KU scored two more goals, but the Seahawks were running out of time. Hynds got her third goal of the game with just under three minutes left to seal the game. The Seahawks got one more in the final seconds, but it was too little too late.

When the final horn sounded, the Gyrenes rushed the field after beating the Seahawks 16-13.

Overall, it was the most complete game for the Gyrenes this season. The Gyrenes won the turnover battle, causing four more than they gave up, scooped up more ground balls and won more draws than the Seahawks.

Individually, Seiler and Shaffrey led the team in points, both with six. Shaffrey scored two goals and had four assists while Seiler had three goals and three assists. With six points, Shaffrey passes Davis for the second-most career points in program history. She now only has head coach Sherman ahead of her on the Ave Maria leaderboard.

Hynds and Ichniowski joined Seiler in the hat-trick club, each with three goals. Mazurczak and Bocchino had multi-goal games as well and Eldridge rounded out the scoring with a goal and an assist.

As a team, nine assists is the fourth most in a game in program history.

Between the pipes, Emily Durr got her fifth win of the season. The junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, made four saves to bump her season total up to 46. Hannah McConologue played the last 15 minutes of the game, making three saves and holding off the final Keiser attack.

With the win, the Gyrenes improved to 5-4 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The Gyrenes now jump up to third in the SUN Conference, half a game behind Life and half a game ahead of St. Thomas.

Ave Maria will host the Life Running Eagles Saturday morning for their final home game of the regular season. The Gyrenes are 1-5 all-time against the Running Eagles but seem to be in a streak-breaking mood this season following the win over Keiser. Opening draw is set for 10 a.m. and the match can be live streamed on the Sun Digital Network.

*****

No. 6 Women’s Lacrosse Drops Road Game to (rv) Ave Maria, 16-13

Score: No. 6 Keiser Seahawks 13, (rv) Ave Maria Gyrenes 16
Records: No. 6 Keiser (7-6, 1-2 SUN), Ave Maria (5-4, 2-1 SUN)
Location: Gyrene Field, Ave Maria, Fla. 

No. 6 women’s lacrosse fell behind early on the road against Ave Maria and was not able to make the comeback, falling 16-13 to the Gyrenes. Ave Maria jumped out to an 8-2 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. The Seahawks managed to pull within three in the fourth, but the Gyrenes were able to hold on to their lead. Madison Andrews led the Seahawks with five points on the evening, scoring three goals and adding two assists. MacKenzie Gibaud tied for the lead in goals with three of her own.

Ave Maria 8, Keiser 2

• Ave Maria started the game with two early goals before Sydney Passaro put the Seahawks on the board with 6:23 on the clock.
• The Gyrenes then rattled off three straight to take a 5-1 lead with just under five minutes to play in the first.
• Abbey Cannon used a strong cut to the net to make it 5-2 with 3:54 on the clock.
• Ave Maria would continue to press forward, scoring three more goals before the end of the quarter to go ahead 8-2.

Ave Maria 10, Keiser 5

• MacKenzie Gibaud had the early free position chance and buried it to cut into the lead, 5-3.
• AMU was able to get another goal back before Gibaud spun off her defender and scored with 8:14 showing.
• Peyton Tomlinson worked her way to the net with 4:35 on the clock, shooting a bouncing shot past the goalie to make it 5-9.
• Ave Maria would get the final goal of the half to make it 10-5 in favor of the Gyrenes at the break.

Ave Maria 13, Keiser 8

• The Gyrenes continued their momentum into the second half, scoring two goals in the first four minutes.
• With 10:45 on the clock, Madison Andrews beat her defender and rocketed a shot to the top right corner of the net to make it 12-6.
• Andrews would score again two minutes later on a free position attempt to cut the lead back down to five, 12-7.
• The Seahawks would get another free position chance with 5:13 remaining as Emily McCall continued the scoring run.
• Ave Maria countered with the final goal of the quarter to make it 13-8 going into the fourth.

Ave Maria 16, Keiser 13

• Keiser opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back free position goals from Gibaud and Krystal Beebe to make it 13-10 with 12:31 to play.
• The Gyrenes countered with consecutive goals to take a 15-10 lead with 8:30 remaining.
• Beebe scored from range to cut the lead back down to four as the Seahawks continued to press.
• With 3:31 to go, Andrews converted another free position chance to make it 15-12.
• Ave Maria scored with 2:52 on the clock to give the Gyrenes a three-goal advantage.
• Foley managed to get one final goal for Keiser, but it would not be enough as Ave Maria would hold on for the 16-13 win.

• Keiser falls to 7-6 on the year with the loss.
• The Seahawks are now 1-2 in Sun Conference action.
• Keiser is now 4-2 on the road this season.
• Andrews and Gibaud each had three goals in the game.
• Andrews led the team with two assists on the night.
• Frew and Cannon each scooped up a groundball in the game.
• Seven different players recorded a caused turnover for the Seahawks.
• Raelyn Boutwell and Margaret Wroe combined for eight saves.

No. 6 Keiser
Points: Andrew (5)
Goals: Andrews/Gibaud (3)
Assists: Andrews (2)
Draw Controls: Frew (5)
Ground Balls: Cannon/Frew (2)
Caused Turnovers: Seven tied (1)
Saves: Boutwell (5)

Ave Maria
Points: Shaffrey/Seiler (6)
Goals: Three tied (3)
Assists: Shaffrey (4)
Draw Controls: Prentice (5)
Ground Balls: Prentice (5)
Caused Turnovers: Prentice (3)
Saves: Durr (4)

Keiser will face Warner on the road on Saturday, April 6. The opening draw control from Tye Athletic Field in Lake Wales, Fla. is set for 12:00 p.m.

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