By Matt Aveni
The Central Connecticut Women’s soccer team (1-3-0) suffered a 2-1 loss to the Providence Friars (3-2-1) in their home opener this past Sunday afternoon.
In the first half the Friars took a 1-0 lead in the twenty-sixth minute when Catherine Zimmerman scored off of a Laura DiClimente corner kick.
“In the early stages of the game they (Friars) had their offense going quicker than we did and they capitalized on it, that’s what good team does,” said Blue Devils Head Coach, Mick D’Arcy.
The attack was not over for Providence. In the final thirty seconds of the first half they managed another goal when Amanda Webster pulled out Blue Devil goalie Nikola Dieter and snuck a shot right past her to push the halftime lead to 2-0.
The second half the team gave the crowd what they have been anticipating to see; the pressure they immediately put on the Friars along with their good defense held the Friars scoreless in the second half.
The Blue Devils offense came together in the second half and put pressure on the Friars when Kerriann Welch scored off an assist Allison Kelly.
“Our attack was better in the second half and we had our opportunities to score,” D’Arcy said.
With a few last minute desperation shots, the Blue Devils attempted to sneak one last goal past Providence, but that was all the scoring the Blue Devils would muster out of the Friars, even as they put five shots on goal in the second half.
“Both teams have similar styles of play and it was evident on the field they just scored one more than we did. We made our mistakes but this is what these games are for,” D’Arcy said.
Both teams battled on the field, pressing for each shot and playing hostile defense.
“I think you saw two teams today that were ready to go at each other,” D’Arcy said.
In the end, the Friars managed to outshoot the Blue Devils with 15 shots-on goal against CCSU’s seven, while both goaltenders finished the game with four saves a piece.
The ultimate goal for the Blue Devils is to take home an NEC title. They have three more games, one of which is UConn, another Big East team.
“Playing teams in the Big East is humbling, it really shows us what we need to work and what things we do pretty well as team.” said D’Arcy on the game against UConn.
D’arcy said he was very pleased with his team’s performance.
“I thought it was exciting, I thought it was end-to end,” D’Arcy said. “There are a lot of positives we will take away from it.”
According to D’Arcy, these games are preparation for when the Blue Devils open up NEC play against Monmouth.
“We hope to learn from these games and build on them so that when we do open NEC play we are well prepared to contend in tough division,” D’Arcy said.
The Central Connecticut Blue Devils women’s soccer teams’ next game is home against UConn on Sept. 9.