Men's Soccer Falls to St. Francis (NY), 2-1

The Central Connecticut men's soccer team fell to St. Francis (NY), 2-1, in their first Northeast Conference game on Friday at the Aviator Complex in Brooklyn Heights, NY. Senior captain David Tyrie scored the goal that tied the game in the second half, but St. Francis sophomore John Sallhag notched the game-winner in the last minute of play.

Both teams came off of five goal performances, but it was the Terriers that jumped on the board quickly when they scored just two minutes into the game. Sallhag received a cross from sophomore Jeverton De Lorenzi and the forward from Vaxjo, Sweden finished it in the lower corner past Blue Devil goalkeeper Paul Armstrong. The first half saw no more scoring as well as no corner kicks. St. Francis outshot CCSU by a count of 6-2 in the opening period with Armstrong recording two saves.

Central came out in the second half recharged and tied the game at one when Tyrie flicked on a shot taken by sophomore Connor Smith. Smith was on the receiving end of a free kick taken by senior captain Yan Klukowski. Tyrie, last year's NEC Defensive Player of the Year, is third on Central in goals and total points with four and eight, respectively.

The game remained tied until the final minute of regulation. Sallhag struck again when junio Semso Nikocevic found the striker streaking up the left side. Sallhag dribbled towards the net and Armstrong came out to cut off the angle. That was when last year's NEC Rookie of the Year chipped it over the Blue Devil keeper to score the game-winning goal.

The Terriers finished with 16 shots to the Blue Devils' 12. Armstrong recorded eight saves in the game, while St. Francis goalkeeper Chris Antonio tallied six. CCSU failed to take a corner kick in the match and the Terriers managed five attempts in the second half alone.

CCSU is now 6-3-1 on the season and will continue their NEC road trip with a game against Long Island on Sunday October 12 at 1:00 p.m. St. Francis improves to 8-1-1 this year and will next take on Quinnipiac on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.