Women's Soccer Earns Resounding Win over Gyrenes

Ave Maria, Fla. - The Southeastern women's soccer team closed out its regular season with a resounding 5-0 victory over the Ave Maria University Gyrenes.

It did not take long for the Fire to strike, as freshman forward Uchenna Kanu found junior midfielder Heidi Ruth on a short pass inside the box that was finished by Ruth for the score in the 19^th minute. The score was Ruth's third of the season.

The Fire outshot the Gyrenes 6-1 for the rest of the half, but were unable to convert any of those opportunities into goals. SEU led Ave Maria 1-0 at the half.

After making some tactical adjustments at the half, SEU started the second half on a scoring rampage. Less than a minute into the half, Kanu headed in a beautifully place cross from the far right side to put the Fire up 2-0. Less than five minutes later, Kanu found the back of the net once again, this time on a pass from junior midfielder Nicole Shaffer, to put Southeastern up 3-0.

The Fire continued to build their lead, as Konya Plummer found Soraya Martinez inside the box, who booted the ball through for the score in the 54^th minute. The goal was her fourth of the season.

In the 67^th minute, Kanu completed the hat trick, as Konya Plummer found her on the short cross inside the box. Plummer earned her third assist of the match on the score. Kanu became the second freshman to record a hat trick this season with the other being Plummer.

The four second half goals cemented the 5-0 victory for the Fire.

"In the second half, we adjusted our style and how we were trying to break them down and it worked immediately," shared Head Coach Randy Belli.

It was another spectacular performance for the SEU defense, who held Ave Maria without a single shot attempt in the second half and earned their 12^th shutout of the season. The Fire have held opponents scoreless for 1,286 minutes this season.

With the win, Southeastern improved to 15-1 on the regular season. The Fire will await to see who their first opponent will be in the Sun Conference Tournament and when the game will be played.