Late Goal Gives St. Francis (NY) 3-2 (2OT) Win Over CCSU

The Central Connecticut State University men's soccer team scored two goals in a seven minute span during the second half, but it was not enough to hold off St. Francis (NY), as the Terriers defeated the Blue Devils by a score of 3-2 on a game-winning goal with eight seconds remaining in the second overtime. CCSU received goals from senior Raphael Guimaraes and junior captain Robert Cavener.

St. Francis got on the board first when a beautifully played corner kick by senior Semso Nikocevic found the head of senior Javier Gonzalez in the 28th minute of play. Gonzalez's first goal of the season gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead at halftime. The opening half saw relatively little action as St. Francis held a 4-3 shot advantage and recorded two corner kicks to Central's zero. Blue Devil senior goalkeeper Paul Armstrong made two saves in the period.

In the 73rd minute Armstrong got the CCSU offense started with a long ball out of the back to Cavener. After beating one defender, the midfielder played a cross to a streaking Guimaraes who finished the play and tied the game at 1-1. It was Guimaraes's second score of the season and Cavener's team-leading eighth assist.

Just over seven minutes later the Blue Devils were awarded with a penalty kick after a foul was called on St. Francis in the box. Cavener stepped to the line and put it past Terrier goalkeeper Chris Antonino to give Central the lead with under 11 minutes left to play in regulation.

St. Francis evened things up with a penalty kick that was awarded for a CCSU foul just inside the box. It was senior defender Anthony Matos that took and scored the penalty for the Terriers to tie the game with just over six minutes to play. The rest of regulation and the first overtime came and went and it appeared that this one was going to end in a draw.

With the clock running down in the second overtime period, Armstrong made a fantastic save that he deflected out of bounds, and thus rewarded St. Francis with a corner kick. Sophomore Robbie Weir played a ball into the box with under 15 seconds left and as the ball got bounced around inside the box, it came out to junior Greg Baum. The midfielder one-timed it over the top of all the defenders and Armstrong to win the game for the Terriers with eight seconds to play.

St. Francis finished with a 20-11 advantage in shots, while recording five corner kicks to Central's four. Armstrong tallied eight saves in the match and Antonino recorded two for the Terriers.

The Blue Devils fall to 6-6-1 overall and 1-4-1 in the Northeast Conference. The Terriers are now 8-5-0 on the season and have a 5-1-0 NEC record. CCSU will be back in action on Sunday when they host Long Island at 1:00 p.m.