Coming off of a 3-2 win Friday night on the road at Fordham, the Men’s Soccer team came into Sunday’s match against Central Connecticut State winning two of their last three games, and the loss was a late header on Sunday against Villanova.

The Seawolves came out very flat in the first half and by the halftime whistle, found themselves 1-0 down.

Coach Ryan Anatol said that there was “not enough energy in the first 45.”

The Seawolves were not able to get a shot on goal in the first half, while the Blue Devils put three on goal, forcing two Jason Orban saves.

Zach Zurita took a pass and from 25 yards out put the ball into the top left corner with his left foot with 30:12 to go in the first half. The Blue Devils were ahead 1-0.

Most of the play in the first 15 minutes was controlled in the Seawolves’ half of the field, and the pressure finally made the Seawolves’ defense crack with the Zurita goal.

Later in the half, with under 16 minutes to go, Tavares Thompson was dragged down on a foul and he “tweaked his leg” according to coach Anatol. The athletic trainers did not give him the go-ahead to continue the game and he left.

In the second half, there was a lot more energy and more chances for Stony Brook, but they were not able to put any in the net.

“Once you’re down, it’s hard to come back,” the third-year SBU coach said. “We have to be more patient. We got some chances today but we rushed them.”

A couple of instances, he pointed out, were when his players were “shooting from 20-30 yards away” and “shooting first-time”.

The second CCSU goal was crossed into the box by Zach Zurita and then deflected into the top shelf of the net by Eddy Bogle, his second goal of the season.

The Seawolves were a lot better offensively in the second half however, taking 10 shots, but only three found the net and all were kept out by keeper Josef Abele. Abele was able to post his second shutout of the season, making this the fourth time the Seawolves have been held goalless this year.

That will have to turn around as Stony Brook gets ready to visit defending CAA champions Northeastern in the final non-conference match of the season, Saturday at 6 p.m.