Men’s soccer lost to the Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils, 1-0, on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Hawks dominated the entire game with an advantage on corner kicks, 10-2, and outshot the Blue Devils 13-4.
“We’re struggling. The record is a reflection of some things we need to correct and we need to grow as a program,” Head Coach Robert McCourt said of his 2013 Hawks.
MU controlled the first half with five shots to CCSU’s two shots, but the Blue Devils managed to score a goal early on in the game.
During the sixth minute of play, CCSU’s Keir Hannity passed the ball from the sideline into the box where teammate Eddy Bogle was able to jump a little higher than the MU defender and put the ball past Hawks junior goalkeeper Stephen Graziani to give his team the 1-0 advantage.
One of MU’s best chances to score came in the second half when senior forward Francois “Paco” Navarro was given a direct kick after freshmen forward Dave Nigro was fouled outside the box. Navarro struck the ball straight for the goal, but MU’s offense did not get to the net in time to head it in as CCSU goalie, Josef Abele, recorded his third save of the game.
“We definitely need to step it up,” said freshman foward Dave Nigro. “We’re coming out slow in the start, we need to be acting like we are down a goal the entire time because that’s when we start to play. When our heads are down,”
Nigro had one shot on goal for the game, as well as several other encounters around the net. His most impressive act of the night was when he slid near the sideline chasing a ball sent from teammate junior back Derek Luke. Nigro sent the ball back in the box, but no Monmouth player was able to get on the receving end of the ball, and nothing was made of the opportunity.
“The bottom line is we just can’t score goals right now. In order to win games, we have to score goals,” McCourt said of his teams missed opportunities.
MU eventually did get the ball into the net with 12 minutes left in the game, but the referees retracted the goal and gave the Blue Devils a free kick. After this moment, the Hawks began to pick up speed and physicality.
A couple minutes later MU junior defender, Matt Jeffrey, was given a yellow card for pushing as did CCSU’s Manny Nobre.
With nearly three minutes left in the game, sophomore back John Egan was fouled on CCSU’s half. Freshman goalkeeper, Eric Klenofsky took the free kick, but the Blue Devils gained quick control of the ball. The Hawks last opportunity came in with 1:19 left in the game. Another foul resulted in Luke taking a kick in CCSU’s territory. He struck hard and direct, but the ball sailed right over the crossbar sealing the Blue Devils victory.
Luke led MU’s opportunities with three shots on goal while Jeffrey and Navarro followed with a pair each. Klenofsky recorded two saves in the night, both of which occured in the second half, while junior goalkeeper Stephen Graziani saved one goal in the first half and allowed CCSU’s lone goal.
“I think after this game, we just need to start brand new,” Nigro said.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 1-5-2 while the Blue Devils advance to 3-4-1. The Hawks are in 8th place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). At this point in 2012-2013, the Hawks were 5-3-1.
MU will next travel to Fairfield, Connecticut to face the third place Fairfield University Stags on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 pm. The Stags current record is 3-2-1 for the season with a 1-1-1 record at home. The Hawks have an 0-4 record on the road.
The contest will be the Hawks first conference game of the season, and will mark their first ever conference game as members of the MAAC.
