GAME DAY INFORMATION   DATE: September 18, 2021 LOCATION: Ronald J. Abdow Field, Springfield, Mass.   GAME DAY LINKS   LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
The University of New Haven men's soccer team heads to Springfield, Mass. on Saturday, Sept. 18, to take on NE-10 Conference rival, American Internal College at Ronald J. Abdow Field at 3:00 PM.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Chargers look to break an eight game losing streak against the AIC Yellow Jackets this weekend. New Haven trails in the series 12-13-1 but holds a winning 6-4-1 record on the road. The last time the two met was Sept. 21, 2019 and it was a 3-0 loss for the Chargers. Click Here for a complete series history.
 
SCOUTING THE CHARGERS (3-0, 0-0 NE10)
The Chargers enter the matchup with a 3-0 record, scoring 4+ goals in each contest. New Haven's offense has been electric so far, with 14 total goals scored to kickoff the season. The only team with more goals in the conference is AIC, who has one more game played than the Chargers. 

Lead the effort is freshman forward Pau Santanach (Barcelona, Spain/Collegi CreaNova) who scored anther two goals on Tuesday, his second two-goal game of the year. Santanach leads the NE-10 in goals with five but he is not alone on the leader board as Alvaro Ezpeleta (Vigo, Spain/Colegio Amor de Dios) follows close behind with three.

Tano Desseno (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Saint Patrick College) is tied for first in the conference in assists (3) and Alexander Gunnarsson (Kopavogur, Iceland/Verzlenarskoli Islands) is tied for second with two. Gunnarsson also graced the score column last game with the first of his career.

Senior JP Viruet (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) also added his first goal of the season in last Tuesday's 5-3 win over Nyack.
 
The Charger's freshman goalkeeper Themis Kastoris (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasiet) tallied another three saves, all of which were in the first half.
 
SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS (3-0-1, 0-0 NE10)
The AIC Yellow Jackets start the season on a similar foot to the Chargers. Another high scoring offense, the Yellow Jackets are led on offense by Mathis Pilon St. Louis and Josip Validzic, who each have four goals on the year. After a 1-5 record in last year's shortened season, AIC is looking to repeat the magic of their 2018 season in which they defeated #6 Adelphi 3-2 in the NE-10 quarterfinals.
The Yellow Jackets were ranked 6th in the NE-10 Preseason Coaches's poll.

American International finished 8-7-3 (5-5-2 NE-10) during the 2019 season, going 6-2-0 while hosting. The Yellow Jackets' have a large, diverse squad composed of 26 freshman, five sophomores, two juniors, one senior and 10 graduate students. Head Coach Luke Perry is in the midst of his seventh season at the helm of the AIC men's soccer team. Perry comes into the game with a 36-42-13 record and 23-30-11 NE10.

NEXT UP
New Haven will come home for the first of a two game home stand and second NE-10 matchup on the year as the Chargers host Adelphi on Wednesday Sept. 22. Kick off for that game against the Panthers will take place at Kathy Zolad Stadium and is scheduled for 7:00 PM.