Women's Soccer Battles Stonehill To 2-2 Draw On Senior Night

Seniors Daniela De Souza and Abbie Burgess scored second half goals off assists from freshman Leah Howe, as the host Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils battled to a 2-2 Northeast Conference tie with the visiting Stonehill College Skyhawks on Senior Night in New Britain. With the tie, the CCSU women finish the season at 5-4-1 in NEC play and are 5-10-2 overall.  Stonehill now heads into the NEC Championship Tournament at 8-9-1 overall and 7-2-1 in conference action

GAME INFORMATION | BOX SCORE

Score:   CCSU 2, Stonehill 2
Records: CCSU (5-10-2, 5-4-1 NEC), Stonehill (8-9-1, 7-2-1 NEC)
Location: CCSU Soccer Field |New Britain, Conn.

KEY MOMENTS

• Stonehill's Martha Lord put the match's first shot on goal in the 7th minute of action with a header that was stopped by CCSU's Taylor DeFlorio.
• Meghan Lord had a top-notch scoring opportunity for the visitors, but DeFlorio again came up with a big save with just over 10 minutes played.   
• The opening half finished scoreless with Central holding a 5-4 advantage in shots.  CSSU put three of those shots on goal; while the Skyhawks had two shots on frame.
• Stonehill had a slim 2-1 advantage in corners in the first 45 minutes of play.
• Senior Daniela De Souza gave the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute when she tapped in cross at the far post from Leah Howe for her second goal of the season.
• Howe would add her second assist of the night and fourth of the season when she played a beautiful cross that senior Abbie Burgess hammered home her fourth goal of 2024 to extend the host's lead to 2-0 in the 56th minute.
• CCSU went a player down at the 57:22 mark when Emma Radoncic received her second yellow card of the evening, and Stonehill would capitalize on the manpower advantage at the 60:15 mark when Erin Foley found the back of the net.
• Stonehill would level the match at 2-2 with 12:32 to play on a goal from Hannah Amselmo off an assist from Grace Fitzgerald.

NUMBER TO KNOW

15–Different players had at least one point for CCSU in 2024.

NOTES

• Prior to Thursday's match, the Blue Devils honored five seniors on this year's squad: # 6 Nicolle Santos, # 8 Daniela De Souza, # 13 Aoife Horgan, # 22 Victoria Violette and # 23 Abbie Burgess
• All of Thursday's goals came in the second half.
• Stonehill finished the match with a 15-12 edge in shots and a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.
• The all-time series between Central and Stonehill through three matches stands at one CCSU victory and two draws.
• Both CCSU's Taylor DeFlorio and Stonehill's Allie Sougaris each made seven saves in net on the night.
• Thursday night was the first tie in conference play this season for both the Skyhawks and Ble Devils.
• The Blue Devils finished the season unbeaten in their final two matches.
• Abbie Burgess finished as the Blue Devils leader in goals with four in 2024, and she finished tied with Riley Powers (3 g, 2 a) in points with eight on the year.
• Emma Radoncic and Gia Edwards finished the season tied for the team lead in assists, as they each had five helpers.

UP NEXT

• The Blue Devils will open their 2025 season in mid-August.

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