On their senior night, Central Connecticut’s women’s soccer team dominated Mount St. Mary’s to the tune of 4-0, their seventh consecutive win. With this win, the Blue Devils clinched the Northeast Conference regular season title for the first time since 2009 and will host the conference tournament.

“It was fantastic, one of our goals going into the season was to bring the tournament back here. It was a long way when the conference started seven games ago but to go 7-0 is fantastic,” head coach Mick D’Arcy said, praising his team’s achievement.

The Blue Devils opened the scoring in the seventh minute when junior defender Shauny Alterisio scored her first goal of the season by firing a 40-yard free kick on goal, with the ball bouncing over the keeper’s head.

“Her job is to keep goals out, she’ll be thrilled with the goal but probably even more so about the shutout. We don’t expect the goals to come from a defender but it’s a nice bonus when they do,” Coach D’Arcy said of the co-captain.

In the second half, Central would extend their lead by three goals in quick succession. The first came when senior Danielle Pearse cut inside from the right flank and took a weak foot shot into the upper left corner of the net.

Pearse has now registered seven goals in the season, second on the team.

The main forward drew praise from her coach with D’Arcy.

“She’s been so consistent, she’s been our main target forward all year long,” he said. “She takes a beating but she’s brave, she’s strong, she stands up and she takes it, and tonight she proved she can score with her right or her left foot, and it was a wonderful finish.”

Pearse was assisted by classmate Charlotte Maurer, her first of two assists on the night, leading to praise from her coach.

“Charlotte is the engine in the middle of the field, she dictates the tempo for us, she covers every blade of grass, and she’s even our leading goal scorer which is a phenomenal return for a center midfielder,” D’Arcy said

“She has a big sister mentality, she has so much respect from her teammates, she just has everything you want in a player, and a wonderful person on top of it too, doing right by people.”

The third and fourth goals of the match would then come from freshman Roma McLaughlin, her first two of the season.

For the first, McLaughlin received a pass from Maurer, then took a strong shot just outside the box over the keeper and into the net. This goal marked Maurer’s fourth assist of the season.

Then four minutes later, McLaughlin collected the ball and fired it into the bottom right corner of the net.

D’Arcy stated his thrill with the midfielder.

“I’m delighted that she scored. It’s the old expression that you can wait all day for the bus and then two can arrive and that was her with the goals, she could’ve had ten goals this season, but she’s been so unlucky. They were lovely goals and I’m delighted she’s added the goal scoring to everything that she’s been doing, she’s been a fantastic performer for us all season,” he said.

Central dominated both sides of the ball. They outshot the Mount 14-6. Meanwhile, senior goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh only had to register three saves and collect her tenth shutout of the season. The whole back line did well to stop dangerous attacks and interrupt opposing play at midfield before it could build up.

Ecstatic with his team’s performance, D’Arcy said, “it was an emotional game today. We had our senior banquet earlier. All seven seniors gave their speeches and there weren’t too many dry eyes in the house. So, tonight I think the team showed how much love they have for the senior group. Right from the beginning, they were battling to make sure their seniors got the result they wanted.”

The Blue Devils will finish their regular season when they travel to Saint Francis (PA) on Friday, Oct. 26, before they return home to host the NEC tournament.