The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils not only had to fight torrential rain but also the Virginia Military Institute Keydets to maintain a 2-2 draw on Saturday, Sept. 20, at CCSU’s Soccer Field.
The Blue Devils bounced back following their loss at home on Tuesday, Sept. 9 against the Merrimack Warriors.
CCSU started the game strong, with captain Trevor Rau being a threat on the transition in the attacking third.
A free-flowing passage of play saw midfielder Joey Tata play a ball across the box for forward Santiago Marin Gutierrez to slot it home past the keeper.
With the Blue Devils pushing to grab a second, they were stunned by a set-piece goal, with a header scored by VMI defender Connor Reid.
It took a matter of minutes for Central to respond.
With a free kick in a dangerous position, Marin Gutierrez stepped up to strike it home top corner to take the lead and secure a brace.
CCSU grew and created more chances as the game went on with the Keydets struggling to create opportunities in front of goal.
Early in the second half, the away side made some changes which impacted the game, with goalkeeper Cristian Torres stopping the attacking threat of forward Thimson Duolo.
VMI were pushing for an equalizer and they got their reward, with a lovely delivery by Jesse Lee met with a Duolo header past the keeper to tie the game.
A frantic final few minutes saw two shots hit the crossbar on both ends, with both sides having to settle for the tie.
Post-match, CCSU head coach David Kelly said that the team showed a lot of heart and character.
“They fought till the very end,” he said. “The game opened up a little bit towards the end but an absolutely gutsy performance from us.”
He looked at the positives ahead of the next fixture.
“We scored two goals [and] created a lot of chances,” he said. “We need to learn how to use our experience to get out of situations… overall, it was a tremendous effort from our guys.”
Marin Gutierrez was announced as the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week on Monday, Sept. 15, following his stellar performance with two goals scored in the match.
