Men's Soccer Falls to Canisius in Home Opener on Monday

The Central Connecticut men's soccer team succumbed to a second half rally against Canisius on Monday afternoon in a 4-2 loss in New Britain, CT. The Blue Devils built an early two-goal lead, but the Golden Griffins scored three goals in the second half to come away with a win.

The Blue Devils are back in action on Friday night against Rhode Island at home at 7:00 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:  CCSU 2, Canisius 4
Records: CCSU (1-3), Canisius (1-2-1)
Location: CCSU Soccer Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• CCSU opened the scoring at 5:51 when a corner kick got directed away from the goal. Austin Rocke was able to flick a pass to Jacob Culpepper who volleyed his shot to the top-right corner to make it 1-0.
• CCSU would double the lead just two minutes later when Ola Telje tossed a throw in to the near post where Jakob Welle-Smogeli settled and put a low shot past the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
• Canisius nearly got on the board in the 19^th minute off a corner kick. The Golden Griffins had an initial shot from Riley Wagner kicked off the line Will Starker. Wagner got the rebound and put a shot to the other post, but Mick Sipples would make a diving save to tip the ball away.
• Canisius managed to get on the board with just over 19 minutes to play in the first half when Kevin Villacorta sent a corner kick in and found the head of AJ Zarcone who made it 2-1 at the intermission.
• With just over 38 minutes to play, Canisius would put the ball in front of the goal where Kyle Pollard had a shot, but Sipples again came up with the save. Just over a minute later, Mason Petrucci chipped a shot from inside the area that Sipples leapt to get his fingers to and put it over the crossbar.
• Canisius tied the match with 14 minutes to play Glodie Mata slipped a pass to Michael Switala who put a shot to the right side to make it 2-2.
• The Golden Griffins took the lead with just over seven minutes remaining Daniel Longo put hoe a pass from Albertto Reyes off a long free kick to make it 3-2.
• Canisius tacked on a goal with six minutes to play when Ely Sidibe sent a cross into the box that Switala tapped home.

NUMBER TO KNOW

5 – CCSU has had goals scored by five different individuals on the season.

NOTES

• The teams were meeting for the first time since September 10, 2017. Canisius has won three straight in the series.
• Sipples finished with six saves in the game.
• Birk Martinsen had a team-high three shots for CCSU.
• Canisius had a narrow 16-12 edge in shots.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils are back in action on Friday night against Rhode Island at home at 7:00 p.m.

Follow @CCSUBlueDevils on Twitter and CCSUBlueDevils.com for updates.