It’s time for Central Connecticut’s lacrosse team to start facing fellow Northeast Conference teams, and they are going into the second half of the season already boasting as many wins as they totaled through last year.

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they could not tack on another win Wednesday, losing to Vermont at home, 16-5.

Head coach Betsy Vendel is not too worried about the loss heading into this week’s matchup with LIU Brooklyn, explaining that CCSU just has to fix “the little things.”

“It’s the little things that always add up, so it’s just building on those. Luckily, we have enough time to prepare so we should be good,” Vendel said.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Rapp led the Blue Devils with two goals on the day, while Carson Adelberger, Emma Sullivan and Raphaela DaSilva also landed shots. Adelberger’s loan goal marked the 15th for her on the season, already matching last season’s total, which was a career-high for the midfielder.

Most of the Blue Devils scoring came in the first 30 minutes of play, with DaSilva’s goal with under six to play being the only one for Central to come in the second half. This second half drought came while the Blue Devils committed 10 of their 17 fouls, and did not secure a single draw control while Vermont did seven times.

On the high number of fouls committed by Central, Vendel does not “fault them for wanting to get the ball back,” but said, “it’s that factor of being disciplined, that check and safety aspect.”

Depth was a problem run into by the Blue Devils early and often in the match. While its bench is not barren, the number of reserve players the Catamounts had proved to have a large impact on the game, subbing in and out often and wearing down the Blue Devils in doing so.

“Our middies got gassed, on defense, there’s not a chance for them to take a breather so they’re working when the balls down there all the time,” Vendel explained.

“We have to get the ball down to our attacking end so the middies can take that breather and attackers can do their work down there. It comes from us shifting our midfielders into the attacking end and then moving them around so they get that breather every three minutes,” Vendel said of the strategy to combat this.

The loss ends Central’s out of conference play with a record of 2-7. While these games don’t matter as far as the standings go, there are certainly some things the Blue Devils will need to improve upon for a chance to seriously compete in the conference.

If Central wants a chance to work on improving themselves for the hard part of the schedule, they face a perfect rival in the conference opener, LIU Brooklyn. The Blackbirds were the only NEC opponent the Blue Devils defeated last season and hold the same 2-7 record as Central.

While The Blue Devils have nine days to prepare for their home game, the Blackbirds will be only three days removed from a game against Lafayette and will be traveling. All things considered, the Blue Devils have a shot to secure a win, building momentum before heading into a two-game road trip.