Following the 2021 season, freshman forward Pau Santanach (Barcelona, Spain/Collegi CreaNova) claimed NE10 Rookie of the Year honors, as announced by the conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The rookie from Barcelona, Spain, was also named to the NE10 All-Rookie Team, as well as the NE10 All-Conference First Team. 

Santanach's freshman season was one for the books, as he lead the conference in goals scored (16), and points (36) off a conference-high 79 shots.

Santanach now holds the distinct honor of being the first player in program history to win the NE10 Rookie of the Year award and the first Charger to lead the conference in goals as well as points.

He is also the first Charger to be named to All-Conference First Team and the first All-Rookie Team selection since Pablo Perez and Nate Peduzzi in 2016.

Santanach was a two-time NE10 Rookie of the Week and a one-time NE10 Player of the Year, but consistently delivered big performances, with five games of 4+ points on the year.

His late season effort to secure a playoff spot was perhaps most impressive, having scored consecutively in the team's final six games of year while scoring eight goals in that span.

Santanach's 16 goals and four assists helped lead New Haven to an 8-6-2 record, their first winning season since 2000.

For the first time since 2010 and for only the second time since joining the NE10 in fall of 2008, the University of New Haven men's soccer team reached the postseason. Entering the playoffs as the seventh seed, the Chargers fell just short in a 3-2 loss to AIC in the NE10 Quarterfinals.