Central Connecticut’s men’s soccer team opened its season by dropping their first two contests against Seton Hall and UMass Lowell.

But the team did not go down easy when facing Seton Hall out of the Big East Conference.

The Pirates struck first in the 18th minute when Martin Storesund put one past Carson D’Ambrosio to take a 1-0 lead.

But the Blue Devils were quick to retaliate when true-freshman midfielder Aidan O’Brien, in his first collegiate game, took a cross from defender Quentin Lux and put it in the back of the net, tying the score.

Nearly the remainder of the game was a stalemate in terms of scoring, but that did not stop the Pirates from putting pressure on D’Ambrosio and the Blue Devil defense. D’Ambrosio was able to record eight saves on the day but was unable to fend off a Carlton McKenzie shot, giving the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Devils were unable to respond in the final minutes, falling by that 2-1 score.

Head coach Shaun Green attributed the loss to injuries and fatigue in the scorching conditions.

“I think we were tired. I think we were worn down with the injuries that we’ve had. It reached the point at the end where we had no subs because everyone was hurt, and it was fatigue more than anyone else,” he said.

The biggest injury blow was when sophomore Sean Gannon went down in the early minutes with a non-contact injury.

However, Green said it was just an ankle sprain, and while severe, Gannon should only miss “a week or two.”

Despite the loss, Green was rather positive and pleased with his team’s performance after the match, particularly comparing his team to that of Seton Hall.

“I am very, very proud with the way the team played: a 2-1 loss to a Big East team is nothing to be ashamed of,” Green said. “We’re in the process of rebuilding into making it team Connecticut. We had eight Connecticut kids starting tonight out of 11 and they have 20 international players on their roster. Eight out of their 11 starters are international.”

Green was especially impressed with the play of the team’s freshmen. In addition to O’Brien, he called the play of defender Larson Richards and midfielder Noah Silverman “outstanding.”

The then took on UMass Lowell on the road on Sunday. The Riverhawks had yet to lose a match on the season and kept that feat alive by shutting out the Blue Devils by a score of 1-0.

Just three minutes into the contest, Malango Mayele found Stanley Alves for the goal, which was all the Riverhawks needed for the win.

The Blue Devils were unable to respond, struggling to produce opportunities, mustering only five shots all match. Their lone shot on goal came in with just five minutes remaining when a Noah Silverman corner kick led to a Julian Zass header that was saved by Riverhawk goalkeeper Zach Rowell.

Central, now 0-2 on the season, will look to win their first match when they head to Burlington, Vermont for the Peter Baldwin Classic, where they will take on St. Peter’s and Vermont.