AVE MARIA, Fla. – In what became quite the defensive struggle, Florida Memorial University's men's soccer team found itself on the short end as a second-half goal sank its hopes of winning its season opener Saturday night – falling 1-0 to host Ave Maria University.
 
The Lions, playing their first game under first-year head coach Connor Campbell, fell behind 1-0 in the 56th minute after the Gyrenes were able to get the ball into the teeth of FMU defense on a corner kick and Ave Maria's Cade Williams got his foot on the ball and put it into the back of the net.
 
Not unreasonably, Ave Maria's goal came shortly after FMU senior defender Pete Afato briefly left the game due to injury.
 
FMU (0-1) tried to become the aggressors over the final 24 minutes, but couldn't truly create any tangible offensive opportunities. The Lions' best shot came in the 60th minute when Delroy Anderson nearly headed in a free kick, but it was stopped by an Ave Maria defender before it could get near the net.
 
Florida Memorial, which will have a substantial amount of time off as its next schedule match won't be until September 16 against Florida National University, ended up with just four shots taken Saturday – only one of which was a shot on goal. And it didn't help that the Gyrenes (1-0) took eight corner kicks compared to just one for the Lions.