Early Goals Lift CCSU Over Yale

October 19, 2015

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale carried the play for long stretches Monday against Central Connecticut, but a 2 minute, 20 second stretch doomed the Bulldogs. Delaney Lancor scored twice in that span, and the Blue Devils withstood a furious Yale attack to escape with a 2-0 victory on a cold night at Reese Stadium.

Yale (4-7-2) finished with a 24-8 edge in shots, including 17-2 in the second half.

“The positive is we created that many chances,” said Yale head coach Rudy Meredith. “Our ball striking is not as sharp as we need it to be. We have to make the goalkeeper make more saves.”

The Bulldogs had a number of shots blocked and also missed the net too often. CCSU goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh made seven saves but most were routine.

Yale found itself in an early hole when Lancor scored her first goal at 4:08. Emma Hubbard sent a long ball forward, Lancor got behind the defense to chase it down and put it home on a breakaway.

The second goal at 6:28 came when Brianne Casey sent a cross that made it through the box to Lancor, who easily banged it in by the side of the net.

“We’re having too many defensive lapses that lead to soft goals,” Meredith said. “It’s tough to play catch up, especially when you are struggling to score goals. We haven’t been playing well for a full 90 minutes, and we need to start doing that.”

Yale has scored only one goal in its last five games.

It wasn’t for lack of opportunities on Monday. Freshman forward Michelle Alozie and Keri Cavallo were both very active, combining for 14 of the Bulldogs’ shots. Sophomore Hannah Coy also was quite dangerous, but Yale just couldn’t quite finish.

Alozie’s best chance came late in the first half when she outraced a CCSU defender to reach Coy’s long forward pass, broke in along but was stymied by Cavanaugh.

Cavallo had the best opportunity of the second half, but her blast from the top of the box was smothered by Cavanaugh.

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday when they play at Penn. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m.