NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The University of New Haven men’s soccer team was unable to find the back of the net for the first time this season, falling at Northeast-10 opponent Merrimack on Saturday by a score of 1-0.
With the loss, the Chargers fall to 3-2-0 on the season with a 1-1-0 record in Northeast-10 Conference play. Merrimack improves to 3-2-1 overall and 1-2-0 in conference action.
Anastasios Petridis (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon ), the reigning Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Week, turned in another strong performance with six saves and just one goal allowed. However, the Chargers’ senior goalkeeper was outdueled by the Warriors’ Jose Silva, who stopped all seven shots he faced to record the shutout.
The lone goal of the contest came in the 24th minute, when Franklin Lemus Pena took a feed from Nelson Santos and deposited it in the cage for his second marker of the fall.
The Merrimack goal snapped a 344:41 scoreless streak posted by the New Haven defense. The stretch included three-straight shutout victories for the Chargers – the first time that the Blue and Gold registered three-consecutive clean sheets since 1997.
New Haven was outshot, 17-11.
The Chargers are back in action on Tuesday, Sept. 18 for a “Local Derby” at crosstown rival Southern Connecticut State at 7 p.m. New Haven returns to Kayo Field to host Massachusetts Lowell on Friday, Sept. 21. That contest with the River Hawks will be broadcast live in high definition and available on most mobile devices on NewHavenChargers.com beginning at 4 p.m.
