The 2012 fall sports season includes five teams, and they are men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross-country and football.
The teams have been busy since mid-August with preseason training and scrimmages. The men’s soccer team will be the first to kick off the fall 2012 sports season.
The fall season will open on Aug. 30 when the men’s soccer team takes on Molloy College at Kayo Field at 4 p.m. In addition to this opening home game, the men will play seven more home games.
The team’s last home game on Oct. 26 against Saint Anselm College will be their Senior Night. The men are looking to improve this season from the 2011 record of 9-5-3.
An away game on Aug. 31 at Dominican College with a 3 p.m. start will be the official start of the women’s soccer team. The first home game of the season will be on Sept. 6 on Kayo Field as they host Dowling College at 4 p.m.
The team will host Southern New Hampshire University on Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. for their Senior Night. The team this year is looking to improve a 9-8 record from last fall.
On Sept. 7, the city of Pueblo, Colo., will serve as the location for the opening game of the women’s volleyball team season, and the team will play an additional three games on the 7th and 8th.
The first official home game of the season will be Sept. 12 at the Charger Gymnasium, as the women take on the New York Institute of Technology at 7 p.m.. Senior Night for the team will take place on Nov. 9 when the women take on Bentley University at 7 p.m. The team is looking to improve last season’s record of 23-7, and make another appearance in both the NE-10 Championships and the NCAA Division II East Region Championship.
The men’s and women’s cross-country team will open their season on Sept. 22 when they travel to Fairfield, Conn., for an invitational meet hosted by Fairfield University. On Sept. 29, they will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., for their second and only other regular season meet hosted by Lehigh University.
The team will then run at New England Championships on Oct. 7, and then compete at the NE-10 Championships on Oct. 20.
The most anticipated fall sport this season is football. In the 2011 season, quarterback Ryan Osiecki led the Chargers to an 11-2 overall record and a conference record of 8-0. The Chargers were ranked 1st in the conference with a 8-0 record, and became the 2011 NE-10 Champions.
Osiecki led the team to the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Division II Football Championships, but lost the game 7-27 to Winston-Salem State University.
Osiecki posted 3,336 passing yards and threw 36 passing yards in the 2011 season, and was named the NE-10 Offensive Player of the Year, New England Football Writer’s Division II/III Gold Helmet Award Winner, NE-10 Conference First Team, Don Hansen Football Gazette NCAA Division II All-American Honorable Mention and D2Football.com All-American Honorable Mention.
As the 2012 season approaches, he said his season goals were “to lead my team to a National Championship and win, throw no interceptions, have 50 TD passes, and 5,000 passing yards throughout the season.”
The 2012 season team goal according to Osiecki is “to win every game and win a National Championship.”
The team will kick-off the 2012 season on Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. with a home game against Merrimack College on the field at Ralph F. DellaCamera Stadium.
Homecoming this fall will be against cross-town rivals Southern Connecticut State University on Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.
Follow the teams throughout the 2012 fall season at www.newhavenchargers.com for a full listing of all the home and away games.
