University of New Haven Athletics

Rick Kessel was the starting goalkeeper for two New Haven men’s soccer teams that reached the NCAA Final Four.

He posted two postseason shutouts – and nine overall – as the Chargers advanced to the 1976 NCAA National Championship Game and recorded three more clean sheets to help New Haven return to the NCAA National Semifinals in 1977.

Overall, the Chargers earned four NCAA postseason trips with Kessel between the pipes and owned a 48-13-10 record in his four-year career. Over that span, he registered 297 saves which included a career-high 116 stops in 1976. He also finished three of his four campaigns with a goals-against average under 1.00.