In their second conference game of the year, the Central Connecticut State University men’s soccer team was defeated by Le Moyne College 3-2 on Sunday, Oct. 1, at CCSU Soccer Field.
The game looked as if it was going to be a repeat of last Sunday’s draw against Long Island University, with neither side able to take control of the game early on.
But, Le Moyne would strike first when, in the 35th minute, substitute Felix Ludemann received the ball off a short corner, took a low-driven shot from the right side of the penalty area, and struck the left corner of the net. It would be the only goal of the first half.
It would take the Blue Devils 15 minutes into the second half to finally equalize when they were awarded a penalty after a foul inside the box. To no one’s surprise, Austin Rocke once again stepped up to take the penalty for Central and struck it beautifully into the right corner of the net for to tie the game at 1-1. It was Rocke’s third straight game with a goal for the Blue Devils, all three of which also came from the penalty spot.
The Dolphins would score the next two goals of the game in quick succession, starting in the 78th minute when Le Moyne’s Cameron Stuart caught Central’s defense lacking after receiving a crisp pass and dribbling the ball up towards the left side of CCSU’s goal before launching it into the far post to give Le Moyne a 2-1 lead.
Less than 5 minutes later, another attack by the Dolphins resulted in another goal when Le Moyne’s Noah Sperduto found himself in the right spot to tap in his teammate Jack Goodrich’s low cross from the left side of the field.
With Le Moyne leading the game 3-1, the Blue Devils now had the impossible task of trying to find a way to score two goals to at least tie the game with less than eight minutes left to play.
Central’s response would come in the 88th minute when a gorgeous free kick by substitute Ivan Farias-Martinez found its way to the left side of the goalpost, where Rocke was ready to head it in.
However, the goal had come too little, too late, as only a couple minutes later, the whistle would blow for full time, and the Blue Devils would lose to Le Moyne 3-2.
A positive takeaway from the game was Rocke’s two goals that helped keep the Blue Devils in the game until the end. Rocke has now scored four goals in CCSU’s last three games. However, those goals have primarily come in a losing effort, and he knows it is unsustainable.
“Obviously, I’m happy to score and get two goals today,” Rocke said. “But I think as a team, I would like to tie or get a result out of that game, and I think we’re capable of doing that. We just need to come together as a team and get our act together.”
The team’s first-half struggles have been a topic of conversation recently, especially after last week’s 1-1 draw against Long Island University, where LIU was allowed to dominate the first half with 65% possession to Central’s 35%. One of Central’s captains, Ola Telje, said many of the same issues from that game carried over into this one.
“I’d say in the first half, we again looked a little scared. We weren’t aggressive enough in the press, and that led to them getting on top of us,” Telje said. “They played the ball through us . . . We had to defend, and we don’t really want to defend. We want to be the attacking team in the second half.”
CCSU’s men’s soccer head coach, David Kelly, seemed to agree with his captain.
“I feel that it was an inconsistent performance from the first half to the second half,” Kelly said. “I don’t feel like we competed in the first half. I thought we gave them a foothold in the game, and then it was a mountain to climb in the second half.”
CCSU’s next game is on the road against Saint Francis University on Sunday, Oct. 8, followed by another away game against Sacred Heart University on Sunday, Oct. 15.
