Men's Soccer Comes Back to Win at SHU, 4-3, in OT
Central rallies from 3-1 deficit to win 4-3 in OT
Four different Blue Devils scored a goal as the Central Connecticut men's soccer team posted a furious comeback victory on the road at Sacred Heart on Sunday, winning 4-3 in overtime. Central trailed 3-1 in the second half, and scored the game-tying goal with just over a minute to play to send the game to overtime.
Freshman Conor Qualter scored his second goal in as many games just 2:12 into the first overtime period to give the Blue Devils their fifth win in the last six games. The game-winning goal was the second of the weekend for Qualter.
Central evens its record at 5-5-1 overall and is now 2-0 in Northeast Conference play. Sacred Heart is 3-9 overall and 0-2 in league action.
Junior goalkeeper Josef Abele made five saves in net for the Blue Devils to post his fifth win of the season.
Sacred Heart opened the scoring early in the fifth minute of action in the first half as Mahmoud Kafel registered his fourth goal of the season for the 1-0 lead. The lead didn't last long as junior Keir Hannity posted his first goal of the season for the Blue Devils at 6:14, to even the score 1-1.
The Pioneers would put two more balls in the net before halftime, taking the 3-1 lead into the break. Kafel scored his second goal of the match just 14 seconds after Hannity's goal to push the lead to 2-1. Christiano Lopes scored his first goal of the season to make it 3-1 at 42:56.
The Blue Devils, however, would not go away in the second half, and sophomore Zach Zurita posted his fourth goal of the season at 67:49 to cut the lead in half. Zurita took a break-away and scored from 15-yards out.
The scored remained 3-2 until the 89th minute of play. Senior Manny Nobre posted his first goal of the season with 1:06 on the clock to even the score and send the match into overtime. Nobre took a feed senior Eddy Bogle, his second helper of the game, and beat the SHU keeper for the third goal of the match for Central.
The Blue Devils wasted little time in overtime coming away with the victory. Qualter's header, off a feed from junior Stephen Walmsley, secured the win for the Blue Devils. Qualter also scored in the home win on Friday night over LIU Brooklyn. The rookie defender's goal was his second game-winner of the weekend.
Bogle finished the game with two assists for CCSU. Hannity, Zurita, Nobre and Qualter all scored. Nobre added an assist on the Zurita goal in the second half.
Central returns to action on Saturday on the road at Fairleigh Dickinson at 7 p.m. Following the FDU game the Blue Devils will play five straight games at home, beginning on Oct. 22 vs. Army at 7 p.m.