WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Graduate Student Brian Rebelo (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) scored a go-ahead penalty kick goal in the 47th minute, however two unanswered Southern Connecticut goals pushed the Owls past the Chargers at Kayo Field for a Northeast-10 match on Tuesday evening, 2-1.
 
New Haven played solid in the first 20 minutes of game action, registering five shot in the earlier minutes.  Freshman Alessandro Pappalardo (Rome, Italy /Stamford) had the opportunity for the games first goal in the 27th minute, however goalkeeper Noah Varonier was able to jump in front of the shot to make the impressive save. The Chargers played strong defense for the remainder of the half, only allowing six shots by the midway point.
 
The Chargers came out of the locker room strong, nearly scoring in the first minute of the second half as junior Sukrija Dudic (Richmond, Va./Hermitage) took a long cross from sophomore Nate Peduzzi (Old Lyme, Conn./Lyme-Old Lyme) and headed the ball straight into the left post from 10 yards out. After another Charger shot by junior Mawasi Charles (Barataria, Trinidad/St. Anthony's College), Peduzzi drew a hard foul in the box after a Southern Connecticut goal kick and sent Rebelo to the line, who successfully converted on a penalty kick goal that hit the back left corner of the net.
 
Exactly 103 seconds later, the Owls drew a foul in the box on the other side of the field and was able to answer with their own penalty kick to level the score, 1-1. Southern Connecticut held much of the momentum as the second half went on, but New Haven's defense continued to stand tall. However, Southern Connecticut took their first lead of the match when Louis Greenway-Tambini put home a cross from the left side of the box in the 77th minute.  With just under 18 minutes remaining, sophomore keeper Stefano Lorusso made a great kick save on a one-on-one opportunity to keep the game scoreless and also made another nice save off a bullet shot but Sabri Akter to keep the Southern Connecticut lead only by a goal.
 
New Haven had their final opportunity to put the game into extra time with under 20 seconds remaining, as the Chargers fed a long serve down field and drew a foul just inches outside the penalty area.  With a wall of Owls standing in the way of the goal, New Haven attempted a trickery play but could not finish it off, allowing Southern Connecticut to run away with the valuable conference win.
 
The Chargers next play at Kayo Field on Saturday, September 16^th for a Northeast-10 match against Merrimack at 4:00 pm. For fans that are unable to attend the game, live stats and video will be available on the Charger Sports Network.