Central Connecticut men’s soccer came into this week with Bryant University and Robert Morris University on the slate. The Blue Devils lost 4-0 and 3-1 respectively. 

In the game against Bryant, sophomore goalkeeper Jason Dubrovich had a career-high 12 saves, but was not enough for the Blue Devils to stop them from losing their second away game of the season. 

To commemorate the program’s 50th season of varsity competition, alumni were recognized at halftime during the game against Robert Morris, including the first men’s soccer head coach John Webster. 

“It was a great turnout from our alumni,” head coach Shaun Green said. “They give us great support and it really emphasizes the strong tradition of this program over the past.”

The Blue Devils started the game with a 4-4-2 formation, this being different from the 4-5-1 they have been playing in games previously. 

However, the change of formation didn’t work for Central as they conceded a goal just 2 minutes and 47 seconds into the game. This continued a trend for the Blue Devils as they conceded the first goal for the sixth straight game. Consistently falling behind first doesn’t do Central any favors, as it always leaves them needing to play from behind to get back into the game.

“The bottom line is we made defensive errors and we’re gonna get punished for it,” Green said. “It’s something we’ve got to work on if we want to turn our season around. It’s something we’re gonna address in training.”

After falling behind, Central started to get back into the game, the change in their formation and personnel allowed for junior midfielder Eddie Yepes to push further forward which meant he had a positive impact in the game for the Blue Devils. 

On 78 minutes, freshman forward Jamie Simpson slipped the ball into Yepes, who beat his man and shot the ball across the goal into the bottom corner. 

Yepes had four total shots during the match and three on goal. The goal was the first of his career.

The goal lifted Central and gave them hope that despite the time running out they could get something out of this game. They effortlessly shifted the ball from defense to attack, which shows the capability and promise the team has. 

Despite all the pressure Central put in offensively, they could not take advantage of their chances and always looked fragile when Robert Morris would hit them on the counter-attack. Both teams attacking chances made for an exciting first half that saw a total of 12 shots but only one goal. 

Central Connecticut’s good play often led to corners but in a game that Central had eight, they were unable to trouble the Robert Morris goalkeeper from them. 

Players like Simpson, continually got the ball at their feet and ran at the Robert Morris defenders which would often result in a free kick for Central. They looked to get their quick players in behind the Robert Morris backline, but they never were able to find the clinical pass. 

In the first half, Central had three free kicks in promising positions but were unable to cross in the perfect ball that could create a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Their best chance of the first half did come from a free kick: the ball crossed into the box that was met with a good header, but the ball went behind for a goal kick. 

If it wasn’t for the heroics of freshman defender Liam O’Brien, the second half of the game would have started the same for the Blue Devils as the first half did. After a shot from the Colonials, the ball hit off the crossbar and looked certain to be scored from the rebound but O’Brien stopped the scoring opportunity, keeping the score at 1-0. 

This seemed to wake Central up as they started to play much better, showing glimpses of better things to come for the side. From a corner, the ball fell to Francesco Ambrosino but his snapshot went miles over the bar.

Central continued to create chances but was unable to score and make use of the offensive pressure. Despite all this time in possession, Central always looked susceptible to the counter-attack. 

Robert Morris was able to snatch the ball from Central and broke free from the defense with great numbers. The initial shot was saved well by Dubrovich but the rebound was finished well into the bottom corner.

The Blue Devils did not get their first win of the season this week but will look to get in the winning column when they travel away to play Mount St. Marys October 11th and then Fairleigh Dickinson on October 13th.