Central Conn. Upsets Tulsa

Offensive Surge Continues for Blue Devils

November 29, 2007

TULSA, Oklahoma – The Central Connecticut men’s soccer team became the first team in school history to advance to the round of 16 in any sport during the school’s Division I era.

The Blue Devils (10-8-3) ran their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 3-2 victory over 16th-seeded Tulsa (15-3-2) in the second round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Wednesday.

Yan Klukowski scored the first Central Conn. goal and assisted on the two others to lead the Blue Devils to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they will face UMass, 2-1 victors over Boston College Wednesday.

"You won't find a prouder coach in America," blue Devils headman Shaun Green told CCSU Athletics following the win.

You probably couldn’t find a more on-edge coach earlier in the game either. Central Connecticut had to play from behind for the first time in all tournament when Tulsa freshman Ashley McInnes converted a Eric Burkholder corner kick in the 20th minute. Burkholder, a senior, played the ball square into the box to set-up McInnes' fourth goal of the season.

The Golden Hurricane lead was short-lived, however as Klukowski took a feed from fellow captain and sophomore David Tyrie and beat Tulsa senior goalkeeper Dominic Cervi from 16 yards out just 1:38 after the Golden Hurricane score.

Blue Devil sophomore goalkeeper Paul Armstrong made two saves, including a stop on Tulsa sophomore Jose Parada eight seconds into the contest, over the opening 45 minutes.

Klukowski, who had the game-winning goal and an assist in the Blue Devil first round win over Harvard, continued his offensive surge, feeding Johan Rundquist for the go-ahead goal 2:48 into the second half. The Wiltshire, England native found the freshman striker's head to give CCSU the 2-1 lead.

Smith got in behind the Golden Hurricane defense in the 81st minute, received a feed from Klukowski and beat Cervi from eight yards out. The insurance goal proved valuable, as Tulsa senior Todd Goddard converted a penalty kick with 4:59 remaining in the game. The only other Golden Hurricane shot, a McInnes attempt in the 89th minute, went high.

Tulsa, which played in the Central Connecticut half throughout the game, finished the game with a 20-10 shot advantage, but only five shots were put on target. Armstrong received strong play in front of him and totaled three saves to earn the win.

Cervi had four saves in the loss.

Central Connecticut, which has scored three goals in back-to-back games after not posting three in one game all season, will face UMass on either Saturday or Sunday, Dec. 1-2. Game time and location will be released as soon as it becomes available.

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