CCSU 24, Wagner 17
Quarterback Brady Olson rushed for an 11-yard touchdown in overtime and Central Connecticut State beat Wagner 24-17 on Saturday night.
Elijah Howard rushed to the 11-yard line to start the extra period, setting up Olson’s game-winning run. Wagner’s Jordan Barton threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-6 to end it.
Olson completed 25 of 45 passes for 251 yards and threw two interceptions. He added 35 yards rushing for Central Connecticut State (5-3, 3-0 Northeast Conference). Howard ran for 69 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown.
Barton finished with 198 yards on 20-of-36 passing with a touchdown and an interception for Wagner (1-6, 0-3 Northeast Conference), which has lost six of their last seven games.
The Blue Devils have won 100 NEC games, the most of any league member since the conference started in 1996.
Tampa Bay 3, Athletic 2
Hartford Athletic’s hopes of hosting a home playoff game took a hit on Saturday, as the team dropped a 3-2 decision at Tampa Bay, snapping a four-game winning streak.
Tampa Bay, which needed a win to stay in the playoff hunt, took a 2-0 lead in the first 25 minutes after goals from Manuel Arteaga and Woobens Pacius. Michee Ngalina scored twice for Hartford, once in first half stoppage time, and once in second-half stoppage time, but a 56th minute goal from Alex Méndez meant the second one was just academic.
Despite the loss, Hartford remained in third place in the USL Championship Eastern Conference standings, with 44 points. Athletic (13-5-11, W-D-L) can clinch a home playoff game with a point in its final regular-season game of the year, at top-seeded Louisville next Saturday. A loss would open the door for Loudoun United or North Carolina FC, each with 42 points on the season, to jump up into the No. 4 spot. Those two face each other in the final game of the regular season.
Providence 5, Wolf Pack 2
The Hartford Wolf Pack fell to 0-3-0-0 on the season on Saturday night as they dropped a 5-2 decision on the road at Providence.
The Bruins struck just 3:39 into the game, as Jonathan Aspirot scored his first goal with the club. Aspirot took a feed from Fabian Lysell on the left-wing side and blasted a one-timer by Talyn Boyko to make it 1-0.
Jaroslav Chmelař drew the Wolf Pack even at 7:21, scoring his first goal of the season. Chmelař took a pass in the right-wing circle and zipped a shot by goalie Simon Zajicek off a feed from Derrick Pouliot. The assist was Pouliot’s second in as many games.
Just over five minutes later, however, the Bruins regained the lead when Riley Tufte scored his third goal of the season. Tufte took a pass from Patrick Brown in tight on the right-wing side and beat Boyko to make it 2-1.
Dans Ločmelis then made it 3-1 at 13:11, converting on a breakaway for his first goal of the season.
Billy Sweezey extended the lead to 4-1 just 49 seconds into the second period, and . Georgii Merkulov’s made it 5-1 at 11:30.
Trey Fix-Wolansky scored his second goal of the season a few minutes later, but Zajicek slammed the door shut on a comeback, keeping the Wolf Pack stuck on two goals and cementing a fourth straight victory for the Bruins.
The Wolf Pack return home to face Springfield on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
