Central Connecticut State split Friday

Lady Blue Devils top Holy Cross, 2-0; Men fall to Vermont by same score

September 13, 2008

Central Connecticut’s Leah Blayney and Rachel Caneen each scored a goal and tallied an assist to lead the Blue Devils in a 2-0 victory over Holy Cross Friday evening at the CCSU Soccer Stadium in New Britain.

Holy Cross junior keeper Jessica Stone (Rockville, Md.) was credited with a season-high 13 saves, but it was not enough to stop CCSU’s offensive efforts. With the loss, the Crusaders fall to 0-5, while the Blue Devils improve to 3-1-3.

The first half was scoreless as both teams battled back and forth, with neither defense relenting or allowing the ball to penetrate the goal box. The scoring didn’t start until the 76:01 mark, when Blayney controlled a pass from Caneen and evaded the Holy Cross defenders before launching the ball over Stone’s head and into the top of the net.

With the match nearing its conclusion at the 89:59 mark, Caneen scored her second goal of the season when she received a pass from Blayney and lifted the ball into the upper left corner of the net just as time expired.

CCSU senior keeper Erin Herd only had to make one save the entire game and has allowed just one goal in her 600 minutes of play this season. The shutout was the fourth straight for Central Connecticut, the second longest streak in program history.

The Crusaders hope to get their first win of the season when they return to action on Sunday to take on UMass at 2 p.m. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, hit the road to take on Boston College Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Central Connecticut men's soccer team, however, fell to 2-1-1 on the season after losing, 2-0, against Vermont Friday afternoon.

Vermont remains undefeated as they improve to 3-0-2 this season. The Catamounts got on the board early when they were awarded a free kick right outside the box in the ninth minute. Sophomore Ryan White's attempt on the direct kick was initially saved by Central Connecticut keeper Paul Armstrong but the rebound was finished by Vermont's Connor O'Brien for his second goal of the season.

The two squads played evenly for the rest of the half and the Blue Devils went into halftime down 1-0. It took 19 minutes of the second half for Vermont to get on the board again. In the 64th minute, Catamount senior Jordan Crasilneck played a corner kick into the box. The ball was cleared out directly back to the forward and he played another cross into the box. This time it was Vermont defender Connor Tobin who got to the ball first and put it away with one touch. The goal marked the first on the season for the senior.

Although the Blue Devils kept playing with fire, Vermont held on to win the game, 2-0. The Catamounts out shot CCSU 17 to six and had the edge in corner kicks with eight to the Blue Devils' five. Armstrong falls to 2-1-1 in the net for the Blue Devils, but with five saves in today's match he still holds a solid 0.71 goals against average and .850 save percentage. Vermont goalkeeper Roger Scully had three saves in the game and recorded his second shutout of the season.