Score: No. 13 Keiser Seahawks 3, Ave Maria Gyrenes 2
Records: No. 13 Keiser (7-1-1, 6-0 SUN), Ave Maria (1-9-2, 0-5-1 SUN)
Location: Arrigo-Vecellio Field - West Palm Beach, Fla.
Keiser men's soccer was able to preserve its undefeated home record this afternoon with a 3-2 victory over the Ave Maria Gyrenes. The Seahawks were in trouble down 2-1 in the second half, but a goal from
Aldair Chavez tied the game and a spectacular goal from
Ian Garnero in the 81st minute gave Keiser the victory.
The Seahawks will now turn their attention to a midweek matchup at Southeastern this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
- The Seahawks put seven shots on the board in the opening 24 minutes, but none found the mark as the two teams locked up defensively
- Following a yellow card on Ave Maria in the 30th minute, Keiser was granted a penalty kick
- Mikael Baisotti was on the attempt, and he fired it past the goalkeeper to give Keiser the early lead
- Keiser didn't hold the lead for long, however, as the Gyrenes were able to sneak a goal past Santiago Nebot to tie the game two minutes later
- The goal was the first allowed by the Seahawks in nearly 431 minutes and the first yielded to AMU since 2021
- Keiser outshot the Gyrenes 6-1 in the remaining 12 minutes of the half, but the score remained knotted up 1-1 at the halftime break
- After halftime, Ave Maria took advantage of three consecutive Keiser fouls and took the lead in the 48th minute with a goal
- This was the first time Keiser had trailed in a game since September 2 of this season
- Down by one, KU was aggressive in its approach to tie the game, but the Seahawks were hampered by four fouls and two yellow cards between the 48th minute and the 57th minute
- Following another KU yellow card, AMU nearly took a two-goal lead in the 68th minute, but the shot narrowly sailed over the crossbar
- In a chaotic sequence, a shot from Ian Garnero was saved, but as the ball ricocheted off the goalie's hands, it came right back to Garnero who zipped it over to Aldair Chavez for the equalizer in the 71st minute
- With the game tied and the momentum reset, Keiser was able to keep the ball mostly on the AMU side of the field in search of the game-winner
- The Seahawks would find the game-winner in the 81st minute when a Ryota Nakamura shot bounced off the goalpost and landed in front of Ian Garnero
- In that moment, Garnero made the play of the season so far for Keiser, collecting the ball and taking a beautiful shot that found the top left corner of the net
- With the lead secure, Keiser was able to drop into a defensive alignment and focus on preventing the Gyrenes from tying the game
- Santiago Nebot and the Keiser backline were able to do just that, keeping AMU from taking any shots in the final ten minutes of the half
- The Seahawks are now 11-1 at Arrigo-Vecellio Field versus AMU, and 19-1 all-time.
- Santiago Nebot picked up his 31th career win, second most all-time in Keiser history and seven wins behind the top spot
- KU tied a season-high with four yellow cards
- The Keiser offense took 30 shots with 17 on goal, both season-highs
- Keiser took 10 corner kicks, Ave Maria took two
- Despite the close final score, the Seahawks outshot the Gyrenes 30-6
- Mikael Baisotti now leads the team with 11 points
- The goal was his fourth of the season, putting him back in the team lead
- Baisotti's penalty kick was the first one taken by Keiser this year
- Garnero's game winner was his first goal of the year
- Timo Boomkens, Ian Garnero, Santiago Duque, and Santiago Nebot each played the full 90 minutes
- With the win, head coach Gavin Oldham improves to 94-26-14 (58-11-5 SUN) and remains undefeated versus Ave Maria.
The Seahawks will be traveling to Lakeland, Fla. this Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. match versus Southeastern.
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