After two long hard-fought battles at Maine and then home against Seton Hall, Central Connecticut’s women’s soccer team improved their record to 6-1-2.

At Maine, the Blue Devils scored the eventual match-winner after only 11 minutes of play, with senior Danielle Pearse finishing off a pass from sophomore Roma McLaughlin. This marked Pearse’s third goal of the season and McLaughlin’s second assist.

They managed to hold off the Black Bears for the remainder of the game, with a strong performance from senior goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh. This would be her third shutout in a row, which would be more to come.

The Blue Devils then hosted Seton Hall on Sunday for a back and forth clash that ended in a 0-0 tie.

The team was stuck in a midfield battle with a mix of possession from both sides. The Blue Devils eventually picked up the pace in the second half, with sophomore Tess Atkinson driving the attack for a goal to separate the teams.

“I thought as the game went on we became a little more dominant, we certainly had the chances to win the game but, disappointed not to win but happy overall to recover from a slow start,” head coach Mick D’Arcy said.

They certainly did create enough chances for a comfortable win with a total of 22 shots (11 in regulation then another 11 during extra time). However, in the end, they could not find the back of the net due to crucial saves from Seton Hall goalkeeper Anna MacLean and even a couple saves from the crossbar.

Heading into extra time, D’Arcy commentated on their mentality.

“Win the game, win the game I mean that’s all we were thinking at that stage and I think you saw that with the players they went for it, there was no idea settling for a tie…we didn’t want it to end because I thought the momentum was with us.”

Despite a struggling attack, the Blue Devils held a strong defensive line against the Pirates preventing any real chances to form and Cavanaugh improved her shutout games to four in a row with nine saves.

Coach D’Arcy praised this saying “defensively we’re solid, we’re happy with how we’re playing back there.”

This home game against Seton Hall marked the last of non-conference play and now the team head into official Northeast Conference fixtures.

When asked about the team’s mindset for this competition, Coach D’Arcy stated, “0-0-0… I mean it’s great what we’ve done in the non-conference… but it all starts fresh for us now, I think we take some momentum and some confidence and the ability of our defense. It’s given us a reason to believe in ourselves.”

The Blue Devils kick off the NEC contests with an away match at Robert Morris University at 6:00 pm.