The Central Connecticut State University men’s soccer team’s struggles continued Sunday, Oct. 12, in a 3-0 home loss to the Howard University Bison. Battling through a Nor’easter’s wind and rain, the Blue Devils dropped their second straight match and ninth of the season.
“The boys gave everything,” head coach David Kelly said. “It was a total committed effort, and we had chances to get back in the game when we were down one-nil…God himself came down and kept the ball out of the goal. There’s nothing we can do when it’s just not going your way.”
Howard entered the match searching for its first Northeast Conference win, while Central was still chasing its first victory of the year.
The Blue Devils were coming off a 2-1 loss at New Haven the previous Sunday, dropping their record to 0-2-1 in NEC play and 0-8-2 overall. The Bison also lost their last outing, falling 3-0 at Mercyhurst to move to 0-3-0 in conference and 1-9-1 overall.
Neither side managed to establish control in the opening half as the teams went into halftime scoreless. Central freshman goalkeeper Brio Leavitt made several key saves to keep Howard off the board, while freshman forward Youssef Shafei recorded the Blue Devils’ lone shot on target.
Central controlled the early stages of the second half, creating several chances that could have changed the game. Their best opportunity came 13 minutes in when senior midfielder and captain Joey Tata sprinted down the left wing, cut along the touchline, and slipped past the Howard keeper, only for his short pass across the face of the goal to find no one waiting to finish.
With 22 minutes left, Howard finally broke through when a low pass from the left cut through Central’s back line and found a teammate in the middle of the box who slotted it home to make it 1-0. 12 minutes later, the Bison doubled their lead after chipping Leavitt on a quick counterattack.
The final nail in the coffin came with five minutes remaining when a turnover in Central’s half led to a Howard shot from outside the box that slipped past Leavitt into the bottom-left corner of the net, sealing the 3-0 defeat.
After the match, Tata reflected on his team’s effort despite the loss.
“I gave my best, I know that” Tata said. “A couple of opportunities fell in the box — it just doesn’t go our way. I know coaches always say to us, ‘They’re going to come, they’re going to come,’ and that’s what we keep doing. We keep believing.”
The Blue Devils have managed just two goals in their previous four games. When asked what he thought was keeping Central from finding the net, Tata said the team just hasn’t caught a break yet.
“The ball just doesn’t want to go in the net for us, and that’s how it’s been all year,” he said. “We’re gonna keep fighting, like I said, and just keep working in practice and offensively do our thing. But I think it will come. I think it will come.”
Kelly echoed that same belief after the match.
“I don’t know what’s keeping the ball out of the goal, but all we can do is keep coming to work, keep training and keep believing in ourselves and work harder and harder and harder until, like I said to these guys, the result that we deserve comes our way. And I don’t know when that’s gonna be, but it will happen.”
Despite the lopsided final score, the teams were evenly matched across most box score categories. Both finished with five corner kicks and three saves, while Howard held a slight advantage in shots, 8-7.
It was also a physical match, with Central committing eight fouls. Sophomore midfielder Gavin Bravado and redshirt freshman Alejandro Vigil each received yellow cards, while the Bison were whistled for nine fouls and had one player booked.
With the loss, the Blue Devils fell to 0-3-1 in conference play and 0-9-2 overall. They’ll look to secure their first win of the season when they travel to face the 3-7-3 University of Rhode Island Rams on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m.
