Women's Soccer Falls to CCSU, 1-0, in NEC Tournament
11/6/2009 12:59:23 PM
Box Score
New Britain, Conn. - The Long Island University women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss in the semifinals of the Northeast Conference Tournament, falling to top-seeded Central Connecticut State on Friday at CCSU Soccer Field. NEC Player of the Year Leah Blayney tallied the contest's lone goal in the 71st minute to end the Blackbirds' season. LIU finished with a 9-8-1 mark overall.
The game-winner came late in the second half when CCSU's Clio Tregear gained possession in the LIU end and found Blayney on the left wing where she settled the ball and took an open shot from 15 yards out to make it 1-0. From there the Blue Devils' defense was able to protect the shutout and did not allow the Blackbirds to tie the contest.
Long Island opened with a strong second half, getting off four shots in the opening 15 minutes. Senior Aly Hanson got open on the right wing in the 57th minute and put a shot on frame, but CCSU's Caity Casey corralled it for her only save of the day.
The Blackbirds nearly broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when Kayleigh Morgan appeared to find the back of the net, but the Blackbirds had been whistled for offsides to nullify the goal.
The teams played a level first half with the Blackbirds' defense managing to keep the Blue Devils off the scoreboard despite being outshot, 5-1. Freshman Jennifer Bannon stopped a shot in the 25th minute by Jillian Cipriano for one of her five stops on the day.
LIU was outshot, 13-6, on the afternoon, while the Blue Devils had the day's only two corner kicks.
Central Connecticut State (12-6-2) advances to face No. 2 seed Monmouth on Sunday afternoon for the NEC Championship. Monmouth defeated Quinnipiac, 1-0, in the other semifinal.