WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's soccer team (3-10-2, 3-6-2) concluded its regular season home schedule in style on Saturday night with a 2-0 shutout of the Stonehill Skyhawks. Prior to the game, the Chargers honored their seven member senior class of Harrison Kaufman (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Hills), Simao Sousa Branca (Porto, Portugal/Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto), Enrique Barboto (Tampa, Fla./Steinbrenner), Aurochit Patnaik (Mumbai, India/St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)), George Tighe (Tauranga, New Zealand/Tauranga Boys College), Mawasi Charles (Barataria, Trinidad/St. Anthony's College) and Pablo Perez-Gomez (Medellin, Columbia/West Haven).
Sophomore Justin Dansereau (Billerica, Mass./Central Catholic) secured his first shutout of the season, closing out the full 90 minutes with three saves, facing 12 shots total from the Skyhawks.
The Chargers got on the board early in the contest with the first goal of the season from Juan Felipe Tobon (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) as he combined with Perez-Gomez to break the stalemate. Perez-Gomez provided a quick give-and-go pass inside the six yard box where Tobon one-timed his shot from the corner of the box to the opposite corner of the goal, well out of reach of the Skyhawks keeper.
New Haven would add to its tally late in the first half when a cross deep inside the box from Nate Peduzzi (Old Lyme, Conn./Lyme-Old Lyme) looked to be easily cleared by the Skyhawks Daniel Pereira but his attempt at a side pass instead trickled over the end line as his momentum was moving in that direction. The own goal for New Haven was their second of the season.
With just under 30 minutes remaining in the game, the Chargers looked to net their third tally of the night when Estanislao Desseno (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Saint Patrick College) fired a corner kick into the box. The ensuing clear attempt by the Skyhawks found the feed of Patnaik who fired a hard blast on target that barely slipped over the crossbar and out of play.
The final two games of the regular season for the Chargers will come away from West Haven with the first on the schedule a trip to Colchester, Vt. for a date with the Saint Michael's Purple Knights. Opening kick in the Northeast-10 battle is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Duffy field.
