The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils secured a 1-0 win against the New Haven Chargers at CCSU’s Soccer Field on Sunday, Sept. 28. 

The home side faced former CCSU alumna and now Hall of Famer Laura Duncan, acting as head coach for the Chargers.  

She helped Central win three consecutive Northeast Conference championships from 2002 to 2004. 

New Haven started the game pressing early on, but as the game grew, the Blue Devils managed to get on the front foot.  

Central began to create chances, testing New Haven goalkeeper Caitlyn Daley. 

CCSU midfielder Luci Schroeder dictated the play in the middle of the field, linking up nicely with forward Stella Orellana, who was a threat in the attacking third. 

The fans grew into the game as it hit the half-hour mark. 

Both sides made changes as they looked to break the deadlock. 

A threaded through ball played by Schroeder found defender Emma Gupta in behind the defense, who calmly scored in the bottom corner one-on-one with the goalkeeper. 

Blue Devils defender Riley Powers could have easily doubled the lead, with her shot from outside the box rattling the crossbar. 

The Chargers struggled to create clear-cut chances, while the Blue Devils pushed on to try and add a second goal. 

CCSU looked to capitalize on their set pieces, despite the slender lead. 

As the second half went on, Central had a flurry of chances from a corner kick in an instance.  

The home side’s defense influenced a lot of the build-up play for the attack, through the likes of Gabby Smith and Kiley Yepes. 

Central dug in to manage the game and kept close control of possession to close the game out. 

CCSU head coach Mick D’Arcy now heads into the next fixture unbeaten in four straight games, following his milestone 250th victory on Thursday, Sept. 25 against Chicago State. 

Post-match, head coach D’Arcy was proud of his team’s resilient and disciplined performance. 

“That was tremendous,” he said. “Overall, the performance was brilliant. I mean it was 1-0, it could have been three or four. We didn’t want to win the game 1-0, we were looking for a second and put the game away from there.” 

He looked at the importance of having squad depth ahead of the next fixture. 

“You look at the depth of our squad and we had people that made their debuts so it was really exciting for them,” he said. 

“Over the course of a long season, depth is important, so I’m really happy for the freshmen that came in.” 

The Blue Devils will look to stay undefeated in the NEC when they take on the Saint Francis Red Flash on Sunday, Oct. 5.