GAME DAY INFORMATION |
DATE: September 2, 2021
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LOCATION: Knights Field | Bridgeport, Conn. |
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GAME DAY LINKS |
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO |
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THE LEAD
The New Haven men's soccer team will debut its 59th season in program history on Thursday night when they travel south on Interstate 95 for a battle with in-state rival Bridgeport. Kickoff for the season opener from Knights Field is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. When the Chargers return to the field to kickoff 2021, the will end a 665 day hiatus, having not played since November 6, 2019, a 2-0 win over the Bentley Falcons.
SERIES HISTORY VS BRIDGEPORT
New Haven and Bridgeport meet for the 30th time in the history of the two programs, with the series dating back to the 1972 campaign. The Knights opened up the all-time series with back-to-back wins before New Haven rattled off four straight wins, outscoring Bridgeport 10-2 in that stretch. This season's meeting will be the fourth-straight year the two teams have met, with the 2017 match-up the first between the two teams following a 10-year break. Since renewing the series in 2017, Bridgeport has won two of the three meetings with the Chargers scoring a 3-2 decision last time out in 2019.
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
There will be a few new faces on the turf for the men's soccer team in 2021, most notably will be the need to replace the Chargers starting keeper with the loss of Stefano Lorusso to graduation. Looking to fill that void will be a trio of newcomers; junior Ethan Silver (New Haven, Conn./Engineering and Science University Magnet), sophomore Ryan Lamb (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) and rookie Themis Kastoris (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasiet) who is one of two players on the roster who hail from Sweden. In addition to the pair of Swedish international's, the men's soccer roster features 11 players who represent eight different countries. Offensively, New Haven also needs to replace its leading scorer from 2019, Nate Peduzzi, who finished with 11 points. The leading returner on that side of the ball is senior midfielder JP Viruet (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) who closed out 2019 season with 10 points on four goals and a pair of assists. Following him in returning goal scorers is graduate students Francisco Guedes (Lisbon, Portugal/Maristas de Carcavelos) and Tiago Vintem (Lisbon, Portugal/E.S. Pedro Nunes) who each scored a pair of goals.
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Bridgeport will return to the pitch with big expectations on their shoulders, picked to finish third in the East Coast Conference in a tally of the league's head coaches. Under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Peter Doneit, the Knights will need to replace the loss of two All-Region selections form 2019, leading scorer Leandro Avila and defender Marlon Montenalla. The latter of those two will have a presence with the Knights team as he has transitioned into an assistant coach roll. Avila's loss is not the only loss offensively as the Knights look to replace their top six goal scorers from 2019, a group that accounted for 32 of the team's 28 total goals. The leading returner is senior midfielder Jesse Clark who finished with two goals and two assists for six points. Bridgeport is also left without an experience keeper, needing to replace both Carlos Tofem and Felipe Dias who saw all of the action between the pipes in 2019.
THE 2021 SCHEDULE
The men's soccer team will play a 15-game slate in 2021, with six of those matches scheduled to come at the friendly confines of Kathy Zolad Stadium. When the Chargers return to the field to kickoff 2021, the will end a 665 day hiatus, having not played since November 6, 2019, a 2-0 win over the Bentley Falcons. The Chargers will open the 2021 season with three-straight non-conference games, two on the road at Bridgeport and Nyack and a single home contest against Bloomfield, the home opener for the Blue and Gold. Following the final non-conference test against Nyack, the Chargers will embark on a 12 game NE10 schedule with the top eight teams following the regular season advancing to the NE10 Championships which kicks off on November 6.
CHARGERS TENTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Entering their second season under the tutelage of head coach Brian Quinn, the New Haven men's soccer team has been slotted 10th in a poll of the league's 13 head coaches. The Chargers received 43 points to round out the top-10 in the preseason poll, with Franklin Pierce and Adelphi finishing in a close battle for the top two positions. The Ravens will open up the season as the league's favorite to win the Northeas-10 Championship earning 141 points and nine of the 13 possible first place votes. Adelphi followed just behind with 136 points and the remaining four first place tallies.
UP NEXT
New Haven will kick off its home schedule the next time they take the field as they will host Bloomfield for the first game of a doubleheader with the women's team following. Kickoff at Kathy Zolad Stadium is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with all of the action available live on the Chargers Sports Network on NE10 Now. Live Stats will also be available via NewHavenChargers.com.
