By Danny Contreras

CCSU Men’s Soccer bowed out of the semifinals of the NEC Soccer Tournament to penalty kicks, in part due to the heroics of Monmouth’s keeper, Alex Blackburn, and a misplaced shot from CCSU’s Ben Walsh, putting the Hawks up 4-2.

“I thought they were fortunate to get to the penalty kicks and in the end that’s what made the difference,” said a solemn Coach Green following their semifinal match against the Hawks.

Coming off a resounding 2-0 win over St. Francis University (NY) in a regular season title clinching game, the Blue Devils looked to make quick work of the Monmouth Hawks as Green did not make any schematic changes.

However, as prepared as the Blue Devils appeared, the weather and the Monmouth experience played a role in the opening goal.

Monmouth’s Derek Luke took a free ball from the midfield and ran down the left before taking a shot from 15-yards out. Thanks to the wind, the ball curled more than usual in addition to dipping at the last moment, something CCSU keeper Anthony Occhialini could not prepare himself for as the ball went into the back of the net.

The rest of the half, however, was in control of the Blue Devils who averaged a 60 percent possession rate, with a 75 percent pass rate, which was higher than in their other games.

Monmouth was prepared for the constant onslaught of the CCSU offense, and their defense maintained a high- line to keep strikers Eddy Bogle and Reece Wilson at bay for much of the match.

CCSU had their first true chance of the half when Bogle took the ball from Blackburn, who dove when the striker took his shot. The rebound then fell to Nick Cianci who took a late shot caught by Blackburn.

The Blue Devils offense was not done. CCSU created the best chance of the half when Alpha Dioubate crossed the ball from the right to Aaron Durr, whose header threatened the goal had it not been for Blackburn who tipped the ball for a corner kick.

The first half ended with Monmouth in the lead.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first, with CCSU controlling the ball, and going into an overload in the Monmouth final third.

Early in the second, Reece Wilson found himself one-on-one against Blackburn, whose dive to the left tipped the corner kick. Moments later Steven Bailey broke away down the right to take a shot on goal from 10-yards, which was caught by Blackburn.

Thomas Obasi threatened the Monmouth defense more than anyone, as the playmaker’s fast footwork allowed him to dribble past three opponents at times. One of his runs created the chance and a goal for the Blue Devils. Obasi made a run down the right a little too early and two Monmouth defenders marked him. When he crossed the ball, one of them kicked it out for a corner.

The corner, taken by captain, Jesse Menzies, met the feet of the other captain, Ognen “Ouggy” Stamenkovic, who drilled it down from the center of the penalty box into the bottom right corner to tie the game at 1-1.

“I thought we played better today than we did the first time around. We possessed the ball well; we passed the ball better around. We created a lot of chances, it’s just that we couldn’t get a foot in front of those chances, and that happens. They’re a very strong, defensive team, who have only conceded 5 goals in their season, and 3 of those goals have come from us. What we’re lacking is that final touch in front of the box,” explained Green.

The Blue Devils pushed for the rest of the half for the goal but couldn’t find it, the game going into overtime with FDU watching from the background one of their two future opponents.

The overtime play remains the most attacking minded offenses for both sides, with possession splitting down equally at 50 percent for both teams. However, this did not translate well into the score line as neither managed to get the winning goal.

The game went onto penalty kicks, the first shoot-out Occhialini has faced in his career at CCSU.

The first kick was smartly taken by both teams as they drilled the ball into the right of the goal almost identically; with both keepers diving too low to keep out 1-1.

The second kicks were both saved by both keepers in similar fashion as both kickers tried to go for a high ball to the center. Occhialini and Blackburn both held on to the ball. However, both teams’ third went in, matching both teams at 2-2.

Then Ben Walsh stepped up to the spot kick to give the Blue Devils the advantage, but his efforts saw the ball go high of the bar; something which the Hawks capitalized on. Their fourth attempt went in giving them a 3-2 advantage.

With one more kick deciding the faith of the teams, Monmouth’s Anthony Vasquez scored the final penalty kick to give his team the 4-2 score and win the match for the defending champions.

Monmouth went on to win the Championship and the NCAA tournament berth after defeating FDU in the final two days later.

“From going to bottom to being co-champions, it’s been fantastic,” said Green. “It’s been done through a lot of work from the players and the coaching staff, and I hope the school takes advantage of this, so we can make the jump into the national stage next season when we bring new players.”

The men are official co-champions of the NEC soccer tournament as they finished top of the league with 21 points out of 10 matches.