Kochin's Late Goal Lifts the Blue Devils Over Robert Morris 1-0, Sunday

The Central Connecticut women's soccer team rolls to three-straight shutouts after topping Robert Morris 1-0 on a late breakaway goal from junior Lexi Kochin. Central applied heavy pressure and controlled the tempo from the opening kickoff out-shooting the Colonials 17-5 and dishing out eight more corner kicks throughout the match.

Now on a three-game winning streak, Central advances to 7-7 on the year and 3-2 in the NEC. RMU drops to 3-11 and 1-4 in league play.

The Blue Devils missed a tremendous scoring opportunity in the 36th minute when junior Lexi Kochin launched a dead center rocket that ricocheted off of the top of the crossbar that bounced  loose in the box. Juniors Danielle Pearse and Yo Tachibana fired off three consecutive shots off of the rebound that were all denied by the Colonial backline and freshman keeper Sydney Bruckner.

After a scoreless first half, CCSU held a 9-5 advantage in shots and earned five more corner kick opportunities than Robert Morris heading into the locker room.

The Blue Devils saw two incredibly close scoring chances in the 59th and 71st minute when senior Kelly Halligan struck a dangerous free kick off the crossbar again and shot a long 25-yard attempt. With just 2:27 left in regulation, freshman Erica Bardes launched a three-quarter field long ball off of a free kick up ahead to junior Danielle Pearse. Pearse slightly redirected the ball to Kochin with full head of steam who punched in her second career goal past the diving Colonial keeper in CCSU's fifth straight game that resulted in a one goal decision.

Junior Ashley Cavanaugh posted her seventh shutout of the 2017 campaign and improves to 7-6 on the season. The Blue Devil goalie recorded two saves on the day. Halligan fired off a game-high four shots and Pearse and Kochin added three apeice. 

The Central Connecticut women's soccer team will play their third straight contest at home this upcoming Friday, Oct. 20 against Wagner at 7:00 p.m.