Fire Blank Gyrenes in Sun Conference Match

AVE MARIA, Fla. - The No. 11 Southeastern men's soccer team defeated the Ave Maria Gyrenes 4-0 this Saturday afternoon.

Just after 10 minutes of play, Jake Van Der Luit tapped the ball around AMU's keeper and into the goal after receiving a cross from the near corner by Chase Hovious.

It wouldn't take long for Van Der Luit to get on the board again, as approximately 40 seconds later, he scored his second goal of the game, giving the Fire a 2-0 advantage over the Gyrenes. Graduate student, Van Der Luit now has 16 goals on the season. 

Southeastern had another opportunity, as Banabas Ganidekam played a through ball past AMU defenders for Van Der Luit to run onto. Ave Maria's goalkeeper, John Turner came out of goal and made a big save, deflecting a rebound, and forcing another big save for AMU.

With nearly 10 minutes left in the half, the Gyrenes came close to threatening the Fire as a give away by an SEU player would lead to a 2 vs. 2 break away for AMU. Logan Whitney recorded his first and only save of the half.

Ganidekam scored his fourth goal of the season in the 38th minute, as a deep shot was bobbled by the AMU goalie.

SEU came close to increasing their lead in the first half as both Skylar Funk and Jackson Darnell hit the post on their scoring opportunities.

At half time, the Fire were ahead 3-0 against the Gyrenes. Southeastern outshot their opponents 13-2 in the first. Six of the 13 shots on goal. Van Der Luit capitalized on his chances, as he scored two of the four shots he had in the first half.

After the intermission, Ave Maria looked to play a more aggressive attack. In the first 20 minutes of the second half, AMU recorded three shots and two corner kicks, however were unsuccessful finishing any opportunities.

In the 57th minute of the game, Eric Ugarte scored the fourth goal for the Fire from the assist by Elvis Castro. Ugarte has scored three goals overall on the season, two of three in the last two competitions.

The Fire are now 12-1-2 overall in the season, and 5-1-1- in Sun Conference play. 

Southeastern will return to action on October 30th as they play their last regular season home game against Thomas. The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.