BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -  The University of New Haven men's soccer team dropped its 2018 season opener on the road Thursday, falling to the Bridgeport Purple Knights, 4-1, in the battle of I-95 on a warm evening.
 
Junior midfielder Pablo Perez-Gomez (Medellin, Columbia/West Haven) net the lone goal for the Blue and Gold, assisted by graduate student Enrique Barboto in the 84th minute.
 
Bridgeport wasted no time getting on the board, as Yoel Salvador net the first goal of the season for the Purple Knights just 12:36 into the contest, beating a New Haven defender and junior goalkeeper Stefano Lorusso's (Auckland, New Zealand/Sacred Heart College) right hand. New Haven made two big defensive stops to prevent the Purple Knights from scoring two more goals in the first half, including a team save and a stop by freshman Francisco Guedes (Lisbon, Portugal/Maristas de Carcavelos) at the goal line. Just before halftime, the Chargers got one of their best early opportunities to score, as junior Nate Peduzzi (Old Lyme, Conn./Lyme-Old Lyme)left-footed in a one-time pass from graduate student Kledis Capollari (Pogradec, Albania/Guilderland), but was called just barely offsides.
 
New Haven cut the deficit and scored for the first time this season when Barboto connected with Perez-Gomez off of a failed clear to bring the game back within two. Bridgeport kept things out of reach for the Chargers however, answering with a fourth goal just 19 seconds later to put the match away.  
 
In all, Lorusso faced seven shots on goal, making three saves during the full 90 minutes. On the offensive end, Bridgeport had the edge on shots, 18-12. Perez-Gomez and Alessandro Pappalardo (Rome, Italy/Stamford) each led the Chargers with three shots apiece.
 
New Haven will look to bounce back on Sunday, September 2 for the second of four-straight non-conference matches at Post University. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 pm.