By Chris Boulay
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – CCSU dropped their second match of the week, after a 4-0 drubbing by Siena.
Three goals by Siena (4-2) in the second half in just over eight minutes sealed the Blue Devils’ fate, showing a very different level of play from the first three games.
Saints’ junior midfielder Joe Tavernese sent the Blue Devils’ morale through the floor when he scored in the 66th minute touching the ball in from a Sebastian Anzevui corner.
Captain Robert Cavener was visibly frustrated with the effort of the defense, as well as the lackluster play overall.
“I told the defense, ‘Have some pride. We need to show we can defend,’” Cavener said. “‘Let’s take something away [from the match] in the last 15 minutes, let’s not concede a goal. We don’t want to go [behind] six or seven…’ It’s embarrassing. I felt the lads rallied after that. We need to do that from the start.”
Interview with Coach Shaun Green from The Recorder on Vimeo.
Senior goalkeeper Paul Armstrong was pulled in the second half after Daniel Alderstad scored in the 73rd minute on a loose ball breakaway.
Regarding some in-fighting in the squad while the game was slipping away, Cavener spoke regarding fixing the overall attitude that plagued the team throughout the match.
“We need to get [arguing] out of our game,” Cavener said. “People make mistakes, I made mistakes today. You don’t go through a game without making mistakes. But, it’s how you react to the mistakes.”
The rout finished in the 74th minute, when Tavernese scored his second of the match, by Blue Devils backup keeper, Anthony Occhialini.
“When all is said and done, they outworked us this afternoon,” Coach Shaun Green said.
Scoring opened in the 28th minute of the first half on an incredible free kick from the left side by Anzevui. The ball sailed over everyone and found its way into the top right corner for a goal that was not savable.
Coach Green was not thrilled with the opening goal, or the referee’s call on the free kick that led to the strike.
“I felt it was unfortunate how they scored,” Green said. “I don’t think it was a free kick, the referee gave a poor decision on that.”
Regarding the problematic efforts by the defense, Coach Green was contemplative.
“We’ve got problems defensively and we’ve got to work on them,” Green said. “I think offensively, we created opportunities. Our lack of pace shows against fast players. That is going to be an ongoing issue until we can improve the defense.”
CCSU (3-2) looked the better side in the first half, even when they were behind, but in the second half, just about every aspect of play was dominated by the Saints.
“The first half was end-to-end,” Green said. “They had chances, we had some great chances. We could have gone into the locker room with the score 3-0.”
The Blue Devils are in action Saturday at Fordham at 4 p.m. The next home game for CCSU is Tuesday, September 29th at 3 p.m. against Hartford.
