GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: Sept. 28, 2022 LOCATION: Kathy Zolad Stadium, West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

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THE LEAD
The New Haven men's soccer team will return home for a three-game homestand, starting with the Golden Knights of the College of Saint Rose. New Haven fell 4-0 to the #2 ranked Franklin Pierce Ravens in their last game on Saturday, but have an opportunity to climb the conference standing in front of their home crowd. Still searching for their first win, the Chargers kick off at 7:00 P.M. at Kathy Zolad Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 28. 

SERIES HISTORY VS SAINT ROSE
In a relatively young series, these two programs have only faced off 14 times before. The Chargers trail the Golden Knights with a 4-10 all-time record, as their latest match resulted in a 3-2 Chargers overtime win. The victory, which occurred on Sept. 28, 2021, broke an eight-game losing streak to the Golden Knights after taking three of the first five games. The series dates back to Sept. 1, 1997 when New Haven won the inaugural game in dominant fashion, defeating the visiting Knights 6-0. The Blue & Gold will look to do something they have done only twice before and that's win while hosting Saint Rose, as they enter play with a 2-6 record when playing in West Haven.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS (0-5-3)
The Chargers continue their search for their first win on the season, coming off their biggest loss of the season to the #2 Ravens on Saturday night. The 4-0 loss was the only game the Chargers have played that wasn't decided by one or less goals

Over the span of eight games, the defense has only allowed 11 goals for a 1.38 average goals against, which ranks third most in the conference.

Guillem Barnils (Barcelona, Spain/Escola Pia Nostrasenyora), who scored the team's lone goal last Tuesday, is responsible for two of the team's three goals this season. The other goal was scored by sophomore midfielder Tyler Pereira (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairhaven) off an assist by Dante Polletta (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) in the Chargers' season opener against Bridgeport. 

Up to now, the Chargers have outshot opponents, 101-97, despite recording less shots on goal, 36-45. After racking up 40 shots between two games, New Haven was held to a season-low two shots on Saturday.

Sophomore goalkeeper Themis Kastoris (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasiet) has racked up 33 saves and a .750 save percentage to start the year, second and 11th in the NE10, respectively. Kastoris allowed four goals on 21 shots faced while making a career-high nine saves in the losing effort.

Out of all 18 Chargers who have attempted one or more shots, Barnils holds the lead for shots taken with 15 while Alexander Gunnarsson (Kopavogur, Iceland/Verzlenarskoli Islands) follows close behind with 11. Polletta, Adam Lindstrom (Orbero, Sweden/Grillska Gymnasiet) and Oskar Kvarnback (Stockholm, Sweden/Bromma Gymnasium) have all attempted nine shots on the season, as well.

New Haven, who was voted seventh in the 2022 NE10 preseason coaches' poll with 59 points, is currently ranked 11th in the conference standings.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (4-3-1)
The Golden Knights entered the season looking to pick up where they left off after falling to the American International Yellow Jackets, 1-0, in the NE10 Championship Semifinal. After finishing the 2021 season with a 10-6-2 record, 8-3-1 in conference play, the Golden Knights head into West Haven with a 4-3-1 record. Saint Rose is currently on a two-game losing streak, one of which was from the then #3 Franklin Pierce Ravens, while the other came during a high scoring matchup with Saint Anselm last Tuesday.

Saint Rose, who was ranked sixth, was selected just above the New Haven Chargers in the 2022 NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll with 75 points. The team is currently eighth with four points in the NE10 standings with a 1-2-1 conference record.

The Knights are led on offense by senior forward Hilmar Halldorsson, who has scored four goals through eight games to start the season. Halldorsson, who also tallied an assist, has contributed nine points which is tied for ninth most in the conference. His four goals on 15 shots gives him a .267 shot percentage, ranking him 19th among all goal scorers.

Senior midfielder Josh Elliott is the only other Golden Knight with multiple goals scored (2), as he recorded one in the team's last contest against the Saint Anselm Hawks. Elliott, who also tacked on an assist in the loss, has recorded six points with his two total assists tying for a team-high. Elliott and Nick Koenig each have a pair of assists on the stat sheet while the latter recorded a goal in the team's 2-0 win over Molloy. Five other players on Saint Rose's roster have scored a goal while four have tallied an assist, contributing to the offense's 33 total points on the campaign.

Graduate goalkeeper Ryan Henning and junior Tomas Rozman have split time between the posts for Saint Rose as the former has allowed six goals while recording 17 saves. Rozman, on the other hand, has allowed four goals while tallying 14 saves. Henning, who is 1-2-1 as starter, took the pitch in the team's last game but Rozman, 3-1, started in goal against Franklin Pierce.

Saint Rose boasts a large and relatively young roster, comprised of 37 players. The roster is broken down into 14 freshman, eight sophomores, four juniors, six seniors, two fifth-years and three graduate students. The Golden Knights carry three goalkeepers, 11 backs, 16 midfielders and seven forwards on their roster.

Steve Wieczorek, who was named the head men's soccer coach at The College of Saint Rose on May 16, 2022, took over a Golden Knights program that made its fifth Northeast-10 Conference postseason appearance in nine years in 2021. 

UP NEXT
New Haven will continue their homestand on Saturday, Oct. 1 when they host the Penmen of Southern New Hampshire. Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 4:00 P.M. at Kathy Zolad Stadium with all of the action available live on the Chargers Sports Network on NE10 Now and Live Stats available via NewHavenChargers.com.