By Danny Contreras
The Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils soccer team beat the Siena Saints 3-1 after two first half goals from Rosie Maguire and Jillian Cipriano and a second half goal from Allison Kelley.
Siena pegged one back early in the second half to make the game 2-1, courtesy of Ashleigh Barone.
The Siena Saints presented the last non-Northeast Conference challenge to the Blue Devil squad, which begins its NEC games next week. Coming off an overtime win against Albany this Friday, CCSU went into the game with high morale.
Many of the early minutes of the game were fought in the midfield with Siena’s stubborn defense keeping the CCSU forwards at bay. Siena could not keep control of the ball long enough and relinquished possession in the midfield too often, giving the Central midfielders chances to put together passes; these never came to fruition and no chances were created.
The game turned lively in minute 16 when Siena was awarded a foul just outside the tenth yard. Their box-to-box midfielder Gabby Racines took the resulting free-kick and curled her effort wide of the post by just by mere inches.
Four minutes later, CCSU responded with an amazing goal scored by Maguire with the help of Julie Lavoie.
The Blue Devils winger picked the ball down the left flank, and dribbled passed two defenders before she crossed it to Maguire, who took the shot, which the Siena keeper Laura Ettinger stopped but did not catch. The rebound came back to Maguire who coolly finished and put the Blue Devils ahead.
The game was controlled by CCSU after the goal; keeping 60 percent of possession in the process, and allowing only two counter-attacks from the Saints, who simply created tame crosses.
Neither troubled the Blue Devils’ number one goalkeeper, Nikola Deiter. In minute 41, Siena’s Barone picked up a loose ball in the midfield and took a wild shot against Deiter. The uncontrolled effort did not trouble the goalkeeper and flew away from the crossbar.
The CCSU domination then culminated in a goal two minutes later, when Cipriano took the ball from a Siena defender, and shot it high. The ball curled down in the last second and put itself out of reach of the Sina netminder, giving the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead over the Saints. The first half ended soon thereafter.
The second half started just as the first one ended , with CCSU dominating the ball completely and keeping possession. The Blue Devils could not, however, prevent a midfield miscommunication six minutes in, in minute 51.
The Saints cut the Blue Devils’ lead in half when Barone capitalized on a mistake between centerback Jewel Robinson and holding midfielder Danica Foglio and put her effort past Deiter, who could do nothing about the goal. Siena kept pressuring after making it 2-1, but could not come up with anything.
The Saints paid severely in minute 68 when attacking midfielder Leanne Hollister picked up a loose ball in Siena’s final third and moved down the right flank, crossing it to midfield maestro Kelley, who extended her right foot to put it past Ettinger; giving the Blue Devils a 3-1 lead.
CCSU played the rest of the game by possessing the ball in the back and making long runs. The Saints did not have an inch of spirit left as they chased the ball for the whole game except five minutes for each of the four goals scored.
The Blue Devils extend its winning streak to two games in a row, drawing two of the previous games, and keep a record of 2-2-2. The team opens its NEC campaign next week, away at Sacred Heart, then take on last season’s champions, Saint Francis, when they return home on Oct. 7 at Willowbrook Park.
