The Central Connecticut State University men’s soccer team drew against Fairleigh Dickinson University on Sunday, Oct. 22, at CCSU Soccer Field.

The Blue Devils came into the game off of three straight losses after falling on the road to Sacred Heart University, 2-0, on Sunday, Oct. 15. Star player Austin Rocke received a red card against the Pioneers and was ineligible for the game against FDU.

The game’s first goal came in the 39th minute when FDU’s Mario Ibeas slipped past Central defenders and received the ball from teammate Tony Gomez before taking a low-driven shot at the bottom left corner of the net, beating Central goalkeeper Daniel Wilmore.

The Blue Devils responded less than two minutes later when a cross into the box by midfielder Zane Brown made its way past defenders to a wide-open Jakob Welle, who put it away, bagging his second goal of the season and tying the game 1-1.

“I was at the right place at the right time, and I managed to put it in,” Welle said. “Not much else to say. I’m happy to score and help the team. It’s a good feeling.”

Co-captain and countryman Ola Telje said he was impressed by Welle’s goal and thinks that the defender may have a future playing more of an attacking role.

“He’s been playing center back with me the whole season, but now that we put him out wide and up top, he showed what he’s good at, and that’s scoring goals,” Telje said. “He’ll probably stay up there for the rest of the season.”

FDU had difficulty getting into CCSU’s penalty box, something Welle said he attributes to pre-game adjustments.

“We changed our formation to a 4-4-2, and the defense did a tremendous job to keep them [FDU] from creating a lot of chances,” Welle said. “We let in one goal, that’s how it is, but I think they [defense] did a fantastic job.”

Tempers flared in the 88th minute after FDU’s Jaime Barbero wasn’t called for a foul by the referees, leading to a retaliatory foul on Central forward Ethan Agyare-Danso by FDU’s Alberto Herranz. 

The foul lead to a scuffle between both teams, leaving the game paused for nearly six minutes as referees handed out punishments to the players involved.

FDU’s Herranz and Barbero, and CCSU’s Johnny Morell received yellow cards.

The game was resumed with less than two minutes on the clock.

FDU’s Jayd Hamdaoua took a last-second shot but Central’s defense held strong to finish the game in a 1-1 draw and avoid their fourth straight loss.

Blue Devils’ head coach, David Kelly, acknowledged his team’s resilience against FDU, attributing it to the team’s mentality.

“We knew that we were going to need a warrior mentality,” Kelly said. “FDU is always a quality side; they always create a lot of chances, and we battled. They didn’t have a lot of chances, and we were right there with them every step of the way.”

Coach Kelly said other players stepping up helped minimize the impact of Rocke’s absence.

“One of the strengths of what we have is our depth. We have a good squad, we have a deep squad, and so it’s next guy up,” Kelly said. “But fortunately, Austin will be back next weekend, so we have that to look forward to.”

The Blue Devils will look to pick up their first conference victory of the season at Stonehill College on Thursday, Oct. 26.