Lakeland, Fla.- The 5-1 Southeastern University women's soccer team will host their first countable home contest of the season and open Sun Conference play this week as they face off against two TSC competitors in Ave Maria on Thursday at 7 p.m. and the reigning National Champions in Keiser University for an 11 o'clock game in West Palm Beach.
Conference play opens up against the Gyrenes on Thursday at the SEU Soccer Complex as the Fire will look to add to their undefeated history record against Ave Maria. In 13 years of matchups between these two teams the Fire have never dropped a match with the latest contest dating back to the 2020 season where the Fire left Ave Maria, Fla. with a 3-0 shutout. The Gyrenes have put together a sold first half of their season with a current record of 6-1 with their only loss coming against powerhouse Keiser. As a team, the Gyrenes have netted 20 goals through seven games played for an average of 2.9 goals per game and a .547 shot on goal percentage. Senior Emily Dalton leads the offense with five goals and recently made history on Thursday night, becoming Ave Maria's all-time career leader in goals and points.
The No. 5 ranked Fire will then travel to West Palm Beach for an 11 o'clock matchup against Sun Conference rival and No. 2 nationally ranked Seahawks of Keiser University. The two teams go into the week with matching 5-1 records with the loss coming against No. 1 William Carey University for both squads. In the 12 matchups between these two teams since 2015, four have ended in a tie with every other contest except one being decided by just one goal to bring the all-time record to 6-2-4 in favor of the Seahawks. Both Fire wins against the Seahawks came last season with a 2-1 win in the regular season as well as the nail-biting victory in the Sun Conference Championship where the Fire took down the soon-to-be National Champions in penalty kicks to claim TSC Championship title. Goalkeeper
Holly Eddins came up with two of the biggest saves of her career in PK's to give the Fire the victory and would go on to be named the Sun Conference Player of the Tournament for her efforts. The Seahawks currently rank No. 3 in the nation in shots per game with 26 and have recorded an average of 5.2 goals per game with Matilda Ovenberger leading the offense with four goals and three assists. Defensively, goalkeeper Grace McClellan has registered 12 saves on 17 shots faced for a save percentage of .706.
Collectively, the Fire have found the back of the net 23 times in six matches and average 3.8 goals per game and a .542 shot on goal percentage. Fifth year
Aisha Solorzano and senior
Shara Randez have proven to be a dominate duo as Solorzano leads the Fire in both goals (6) and assists (5) while Randez has recorded four assists and three goals of her own. In goal, Eddins has recorded 18 saves and a save percentage of .621 through six games played.
Tickets for Thursday's home game can be purchased at https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/?cid=176.
