WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men’s soccer team buried three second-half goals to down visiting Holy Family, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon at Kayo Field. Gui Dos Santos (Curitiba, Brazil/Bethel (Conn.)) and Andres Torres (Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk / Adelphi University) each posted a goal and an assist for the Chargers.
The victory improves New Haven to 1-1-0 and is the first for Roy Fink as head coach of the Chargers. Holy Family, which was selected to finish fifth and received a first-place vote in the CACC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, falls to 1-1-0.
Joseph D’Antonio (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside ), who has scored four goals in each of the previous two seasons for New Haven, started the scoring in the 69th minute. D’Antonio received a long pass from Oskar Sewerin (Stockholm, Sweden/Östra Reals Gymnasium) and took two touches before finishing in the top left corner of the net past the dive of Tigers’ keeper Kelly Diaz.
It took just over five minutes for the Chargers to find the net again. A 50/50 ball settled at the feet of Joel Rodriguez (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan ), who sent a sphere over midfield to Dos Santos. Dos Santos took a clear path into the box and found a streaking Torres, who buried his first career goal to run the score to 2-0.
New Haven shut the door on the Tigers in the 82nd minute as Torres repaid the favor to Dos Santos, connecting with the junior forward on the Chargers’ third goal. Torres delivered a ball to the wing, where Dos Santos then floated a shot just over the outstretched arms of Diaz for his second goal in as many matches in 2012.
Anastasios Petridis (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon ) locked down the first 84:15 in goal, saving all four shots he faced to earn his first victory between the posts. James Pyatsky (Stewart Manor, N.Y./Garden City) made his collegiate debut over the last 5:45 of the combined clean sheet.
The goal by D’Antoino was the 10th of his career, while Torres netted his first career marker and Dos Santos scored for the ninth time as a Charger in addition to his second career assist. Rodriguez’s assist was his third, while Sewerin’s helper was his first career point.
New Haven doubled up the Tigers in shots – 16-8 – and held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Diaz made three stops while ceding all three goals over the first 85:26 for Holy Family before giving way to Nick Aglira, who did not face a shot on goal in the last 4:34.
The Chargers will hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday, traveling to Old Westbury, N.Y. to meet the New York Institute of Technology. Kickoff against the Bears, who won the CACC Tournament to qualify for the NCAA Tournament last fall, is slated for 4 p.m. Action returns to Kayo Field on Tuesday, Sept. 11 for New Haven’s Northeast-10 Conference opener against Stonehill. NewHavenChargers.com will broadcast the meeting with the Skyhawks in high definition and available on most mobile devices.
