On Wednesday, the Chargers men’s soccer team beat rival Southern Connecticut State University’s (SCSU) Owls, 3-0.
Three different players, led by midfielder Albert Portas, contributed to the win against SCSU. Nearly seven minutes into the first half, Portas scored off an assist from midfielder Luke Fiscella, and gave the Chargers an early advantage over the Owls.
Albert Porqueras followed with an attempted shot, but SCSU’s goalkeeper Devin Juan saved it in the bottom center. The Owls’ Jacob Rose led SCSU with the first attempt of the game, but the shot went out left. Fiscella and Portas countered with shots of their own just minutes apart, followed by midfield Oskar Kvarnback who couldn’t find the back of the net.
Porqueras took another attempt, but the shot was out top, followed by a shot that went out right from Portas. After a series of fouls from both the Chargers and Owls, Kvarnback saw an opportunity, but Juan saved it at goal. With seconds left in the first period, Fiscella took another shot at goal but couldn’t get past SCSU’s defense.
Entering halftime, the Chargers had nine attempted shots while the Owls had one. New Haven led with 11 fouls with SCSU behind with eight of their own. Juan tallied four saves for SCSU, while New Haven’s goalkeeper Archie Watts hadn’t seen any action.
Starting the second half, SCSU’s Edward Mensah took the first attempted shot but couldn’t make it past Watts, who saved it in the bottom right corner. Fiscella made the first attempt of the period for New Haven, but the shot went out right.
Shortly after, forward Mattia Maiello scored the second goal of the game for the Chargers off an assist from Sandro Branquinho. The Owls’ Kasper Murzinski countered with a shot but went out top. Moments later, Fiscella found an opening and scored the final goal of the game after an assist by Portas.
SCSU’s Murzinski followed with a shot, accompanied by attempts from Samuel Nagy, Elliot Matthews, and Alex Cunha. The Owls continued to fight with an attempt from Jalen Jean that went out left, and shortly behind was Murzinski who shot out right. After a substitution into the game, midfielder Darsein Gabriel made an attempt and seconds later, received a yellow card.
Gabriel made another attempt, but the shot went out top. The Owl’s Jake Novoshelski took the final shot attempt for SCSU but went out left. Forward Thomas Lyden made an attempt for New Haven but couldn’t make it past Juan, followed by the final shot of the game from forward Rintaro Miyawaki in which the attempt went out left.
The Chargers finished the game with 16 attempted shots, eight of which were on goal. The Owls countered with10 attempts and only one at goal. Watts saved the only shot at goal from SCSU and Juan finished with five saves. New Haven tallied 18 fouls and SCSU was right behind with 16.
After the shutout against SCSU, New Haven has an overall record of 4-2-1 and 1-1 in NE10 conference play. The Chargers will be back in action at 6 p.m. Friday and will host the Bentley University Falcons at Kathy Zolad Stadium. For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
