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WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The University of New Haven men's soccer team opened their 2021 home schedule with a decisive 5-0 win in a non-conference match against Bloomfield College at Kathy Zolad Stadium on Wednesday night.

Tonight's game was the first men's soccer game at Kathy Zolad Stadium since the team beat the Bentley Falcons, 2-0 on Nov. 6, 2019.

The Chargers continued where they left off with a dominant offensive performance, scoring four or more goals in consecutive games for the first time since the 2004 season.

The game started off on the right foot with a team goal at the 2:53 mark. The Chargers were able to capitalize on the momentum, eventually leading to another Pau Santanach (Barcelona, Spain/Collegi CreaNova) goal, his third of the season.

Tano Desseno's (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Saint Patrick College) second-half penalty kick goal broke the game open for the Chargers offense as Tiago Vintem (Lisbon, Portugal/E.S. Pedro Nunes) would tack on another goal less than three minutes later. Vintem's goal came off assists from Tyler Jasinski (Wallingford, Conn./Sheehan) and Desseno, his third assists of the season. 

Alvaro Ezpeleta (Vigo, Spain/Colegio Amor de Dios) put the finishing touches on the shutout with his second goal of the season, stemming from a pass by Christian Lombardo (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame).

The Chargers outshot the Bears 9-3 (5-1 on goal) but also drew more free kicks, 7-5, as well.

The team's lockdown defense set the stage for the shutout as freshman goalkeeper Themis Kastoris (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasiet) was only called on to make one save out of the three total shots by the Bloomfield Bears. 

New Haven, now 2-0-0 on the young season, will head to Jersey City to take on the Nyack Warriors for the first game of a two-game road trip. Opening kick is scheduled for 7 PM at Lincoln Park on Tuesday, September 14.