via the school’s press releases

BOX SCORE

Gyrenes Avenge Early Season Loss, Blast Webber

AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University lacrosse team avenged one of its most painful losses of the 2022 season on Wednesday night, knocking off the Warriors of Webber International University, 17-7, at Gyrene Field. The victory gave AMU their first conference victory of the 2022 campaign, and gave the Gyrenes a chance to jump into third place in the southern division of the Mid-South Conference after the win over the Warriors, who are receiving votes in the newest edition of the NAIA Coaches’ Poll.

Ave Maria never trailed in the conference match, scoring less than two minutes into the contest to take an early lead. The Gyrenes scored the first two goals of the match, then scored six unanswered goals after Webber got on the board. Webber scored the final two goals of the half, but the Gyrenes still held a decisive 8-3 lead at halftime. Orianna Eldridge logged a hat trick in the opening frame, while Emma Baughman scored back-to-back goals in the span of 96 seconds in the first quarter. 

The Gyrenes started to pull away in the third quarter, keeping the Warriors off the board for more than 14 minutes while scoring three goals of their own, thanks to Hannah Shaffrey, Emma Davis, and Claire Ichniowski, to extend the lead to 11-3. That lead continued to grow in the fourth quarter, where the Gyrenes outscored the Warriors, 6-3. Shaffrey, Davis, and Abigail Seiler all scored twice in the final 30 minutes, helping the Gyrenes to put the running clock on the Warriors for the final seven minutes and change of the game.

Seven Gyrenes found the back of the net, with four AMU players posting hat tricks. Eldridge led the way with four goals and one assist, while Seiler, Shaffrey, and Davis all had three goals. Seiler and Eldridge had a team-high five points each in the win, while Seiler was also the team leader with ten draw controls and four caused turnovers. Kaylee Wesolowski had her best game of the season in goal, making 12 saves and keeping more than 60 percent of Webber’s shots out of the net. 

Seiler also made some AMU history in the win. The freshman logged ten draw controls for the second consecutive match, giving her 70 for the season. That total is one more than teammate Orianna Eldridge, who was the first to break the program record last week. One of the two Gyrenes will end the season with the single season program record in draw controls, a feat that will be decided in the final three or more games of the season.

Two more games against nationally ranked teams await the Gyrenes over the next week. The first of these comes Saturday, when Ave Maria hosts the seventh-ranked Life University Running Eagles at Gyrene Field. AMU will honor its senior class before the opening draw, which is scheduled for noon in Ave Maria.

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Women’s lacrosse falls to Ave Maria in return to conference action

AVE MARIA, Fla. (April 6, 2022) – The Webber International University returned to Mid-South Conference action on Wednesday night as they matched up against the Gyrenes of Ave Maria University for the second time in the regular season. After winning the home edition of the series, the Warriors fell on the road 17-7.

The Warriors (6-9 overall, 1-3 MSC) were heavily outshot in the game by the Gyrenes (5-8, 1-3) 47-23. Both teams made a similar number of turnovers, however, Ave Maria held the advantage in both draw controls and ground balls on total for the game.

Ave Maria would have a strong start to the game, scoring twice before the Warriors would score their first goal of the game through Natalie Baumgarten, assisted by Bryce Gerber. The Gyrenes would go on to score four more in the first quarter to hold a 6-1 lead after one quarter of play. Ave Maria would score twice roughly one minute apart to extend its lead to 8-1. The Warriors would then respond with back-to-back goals of their own, first a solo goal from Courtnie Couch followed by a goal from Lauren Dombroski, assisted by Gerber. Webber would find itself behind 8-3 at the halftime break.

The Gyrenes would score three goals in the third quarter with the lone goal in the quarter for the Warriors coming with eight seconds remaining via Samantha Esher. The Warriors would be outscored 6-3 in the final quarter, unable to close the gap to Ave Maria. Two of those goals came from Dombroski while the other was scored by Baumgarten.

Freshman Dombroski led the Warriors offensively with three goals, earning her second hat-trick of the year and her career. She was followed by Baumgarten with two goals and Gerber with two assists, each with two points. Dombroski also led the team in draw controls with four followed by Baumgarten and Natalie Bartek each with three. Reyanna Troupe would lead the Warriors on the defensive end with five caused turnovers while adding three ground balls. She was followed by Alexia Allen with four caused turnovers and one ground ball. Jordyn Davidson would lead the team with four ground balls while also tallying 22 saves in her 60 minutes in the cage.

The Warriors now have two games left in their regular season, both of which are conference games against top-5 opposition. First, Webber travels to match up against No. 4 Life University on Thursday, April 14, at 4 p.m. Just two days later, the Warriors will face No. 3 Keiser University on Saturday, April 16, at 1 p.m.