The Massachusetts women’s soccer team lost a highly physical battle to Central Connecticut 1-0 at Rudd Field yesterday. Between the shirt-pulling and the hard knocks, the tightly-called game featured 26 fouls by the Bobcats (7-1-0, 2-0-0 Northeast Conference) and nine by the Minutewomen (2-3-1, 1-0 Atlantic 10).

“[Some of the CCSU players] are foreign and that could be a reason why they play more physical,” sophomore Lindsey Bellini siad. “I thought [the referee] called it pretty well. She called a lot of fouls and there isn’t usually that many fouls called in a game.

“I think it got us out of our game a little, but I’m sick of excuses. We are way more talented than them.”

The lone goal of the contest developed quickly, when CCSU forward Jessica McCavanagh fired a long-range blast from near midfield that was blocked. The ball was eventually collected by Denise Thomas, who crossed the ball to sophomore Jen Frisch. Frisch then flicked it into the top left corner in the 21st minute. The goal was Frisch’s third of the year.

Only moments later, UMass freshman back Nadia Villarroel sent a floating, arcing free kick from 30 yards. The ball sailed between the crossbar and CCSU goalie Sabrina Mariani’s hands to find the back of the net. The goal was called back however, because the ball was not stationary when Villaroel took the shot. That was as close as the Minutewomen got to scoring yesterday.

“It’s sort of mixed emotions about [the goal] being called back, but hey, it’s part of the rules,” UMass coach Jim Rudy said.

After the Bobcats dominated the first half, Rudy went to a more aggressive style, which created more passing opportunities. After being outshot 9-3 in the first half, the Maroon and White had a one-shot advantage in the second. The real story of the second half was the crisp, quick ball movement by UMass, which was able to take possession for most of the remainder of the game.

The Minutewomen changed their formation in the second half, adding an attacker.

“The first half we didn’t play, the second half we did,” Rudy said. “It’s that simple. The second half we forced them to play, because we played with one less defender. I told [the defense] that they needed to step up, because they were going to be exposed. If we took another two or three seconds longer, we could have put one in.”

Kelly Nigh continued to be a model of stability for UMass, with eight saves in the contest. Two of those were on one-on-one breakaways, and she made an incredible diving stop to the lower left corner from point-blank range.

Mariani was relatively untested, and came up with four saves.

The Minutewomen haven’t been at full strength since the beginning of the season, and yesterday’s rough play caused an aggravation to senior Erin Lilly’s injured ankle, which kept her out of the first three games of the season. Rudy said that it could be a mild sprain. With lingering injuries to offensive keys Lilly, junior Lindsey Fairweather, and sophomore Adair Blyler, UMass has been held scoreless in its last three games, all losses.

“Adversity is a measuring stick of character,” Rudy said. “When you are losing, that’s real measurement you go by.”