Central Connecticut’s women’s soccer team had an outstanding weekend, winning both their matches and improving their overall record to 9-1-2 and maintaining a perfect Northeast Conference record of 3-0.

In their first match, Central hosted Fairleigh Dickinson in a solid 2-1 performance on a cold night.

The Blue Devils started the match defending heavy pressure from FDU’s attack but took charge and opened up the scoring in the first half when senior Danielle Pearse set the ball up for classmate Charlotte Maurer to slot home in the bottom left corner of the net. This marked Pearse’s second assist and Maurer’s sixth goal so far in the season.

When asked about the influence of the goal, head coach Mick D’Arcy commented, “the first goal gave us a little bit of confidence to play with a little more freedom and we certainly did.”

In the 73^rd minute, sophomore Tess Atkinson netted her first goal of the season with an upper right corner strike assisted by classmate Jenna Rae Covello, marking her first assist of the season.

“I gotta give a ton of credit to Jenna as well, she chased down a lost ball to the end line and got on the end of it and sent over a fantastic cross to the near post and Tess was just so fast getting to that post, we talked about making that near post run and she got there hard and it was a fantastic finish,” D’Arcy said of his two young players.

FDU managed to get a goal back in the final five minutes on a shot by Noam Kedem.

“It was down to a one-goal game and we didn’t want to get caught out, but we finished out the last minutes pretty well,” D’Arcy said of his team’s ability to fend off the Knights.

“It was against a very good team, so we knew it would be a very good test for us and to come out with a win I am absolutely thrilled,” he continued.

Although her four-game shutout streak was snapped, senior goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh had a solid performance, making four saves to keep the lead.

The Blue Devils then traveled to Staten Island, New York to take on Wagner, where they dominated in a 6-1 win.

Central opened the floodgates in the 17^th minute when junior Carla Jackson banged in a 20-yard strike from a pass by freshman Roma McLaughlin. This was Jackson’s second goal and McLaughlin’s fourth assist of the season. Shortly after, Jackson went on to get her third assist of the season, teeing up a goal from Maurer.

Wagner then collected a goal with a finish from Le’La Allen to make the score 2-1.

Senior Lexi Kochin scored the third goal for Central, her first of the season, after outrunning a Wagner defender and meeting the back of the net.

Pearse then had the spotlight when she netted two goals in just under two minutes, taking the game away from Wagner. She scored the first in the 54^th minute from a McLaughlin pass. Two minutes later, Pearse had a give and go play with Maurer. With this, Pearse raised her tally up to five goals on the season.

To end the game, junior Emily Hogan gave Centra their sixth goal with a solid strike from inside the box, her first of the season.

In the end, Central overshadowed Wagner in shots on goal, with a total of 15-3, well representing the scoreline. Cavanaugh had yet another solid performance in net with two saves.

The Blue Devils look to expand their reign on the pitch with an NEC contest on Oct. 5, hosting Sacred Heart.