GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: Oct. 1, 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 stay home for the second game of a three-game homestand, hosting the Penmen of Southern New Hampshire. New Haven tallied a season-high three goals in their last time on the pitch, as many goals as they had all season prior to that, but settled for a draw with the Saint Rose Golden Knights on Wednesday. Still searching for their first win, the Chargers will kick off at 4:00 P.M. at Kathy Zolad Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 1. 

SERIES HISTORY VS SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
This will be the 36th meeting between the two teams in their programs history. The Chargers trail in the series 4-28-1 with their last victory coming on Oct. 20, 2012 when New Haven defeated the Penmen 2-1 in double overtime. Since then the Penmen have won eight straight games against the Chargers with the most recent matchup on Oct. 23, 2021.

The series dates back to 1998 when New Haven won the tightly contested inaugural game, defeating then New Hampshire College 1-0. The Blue & Gold will look to defeat Southern New Hampshire in front of home crowd for the second time in team history as they hold a 1-15-1 record when hosting the Penmen,

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS (0-5-4)
The University of New Haven men's soccer team scored a season-high three goals against Saint Rose on Wednesday night but after a late Saint Rose penalty kick goal, the Chargers settle for a 3-3 draw. The mid-week tie may have been the team's fourth draw of the campaign, but for the first time all season the Chargers led at the half. Prior to the match, the team only scored three total goals while a few new faces found the back of the net.

New Haven struck first with a penalty kick goal from sophomore midfielder Adam Lindstrom (Orbero, Sweden/Grillska Gymnasiet), his fourth career goal and first of the year. The kick, which found the right side of the net, came in the 16th minute after an early red card was shown to Saint Rose.

With the first half lead, the Charger's defense fended off the Golden Knights. New Haven held Saint Rose to two shots in the opening half of play, neither of which were on goal. The Chargers racked up nine shots to begin the game while maintaining possession for 52 percent of the time.

New Haven carried the momentum into the second half as junior midfielder Devon Polletta (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) scored a goal off a pass from sophomore Chris Chyzowych (Flemington, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) across the net. Less than two minutes after Polletta's first goal as a Charger. Chyzowych snuck in a goal, just past the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper, to go along with his first assist. Both he and his brother Dante Polletta (Prospect, Conn./Woodland Regional) have recorded points so far this season, the latter coming from an assist in the season opener.

Freshman forward Guillem Barnils (Barcelona, Spain/Escola Pia Nostrasenyora) leads the team with two goals this season while sophomore midfielder Tyler Pereira (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairhaven) scored a goal in the Chargers' season opener against Bridgeport. 

Up to now, the Chargers have outshot opponents, 115-99, despite recording less shots on goal, 43-52. After being held to a season-low two shots on Saturday, the Chargers attempted 14 shots in the draw, two more than the Golden Knights.

Sophomore goalkeeper Themis Kastoris (Gothenburg, Sweden/Kitas Gymnasiet) has racked up 34 saves and a .739 save percentage to start the year, tied for fourth and tenth in the NE10, respectively. Freshman goalkeeper Ryan Lunn (Southington, Conn./Southington) entered the game after Kastoris received a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity, making three saves in his first career appearance.

Out of all 18 Chargers who have attempted one or more shots, Alexander Gunnarsson (Kopavogur, Iceland/Verzlenarskoli Islands) holds the lead for shots taken with 16 while Barnils follows close behind with 15. Lindstrom has attempted 12 shots while Oskar Kvarnback (Stockholm, Sweden/Bromma Gymnasium) and Polletta have all each taken 10 shots on the season.

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 PENMEN (4-2-2)
The Penmen look to finish what last year's team started after finishing with an 11-6-1 record (8-3-1 in conference). While they eventually fell in the NE10 Championship Semifinals to the eventually champions, #4 Franklin Pierce, 2-1 in overtime, the Penmen entered the new campaign with high hopes. Eight games into the 2022 season and Southern New Hampshire holds a 4-2-2 record (1-1-2 in conference), coming off a 1-1 draw with Saint Michael's on Wednesday. The tie was their second in their past three games as they picked up a 3-0 non-conference win over Alliance prior to Wednesday. 

Junior midfielder Luca Shubitidze has been a cornerstone of the Penmen offense, racking up three goals and three assists through the first half of the schedule. After scoring a goal and assisting on another in the team's win over Alliance, Shubitidze was held to only two shots the last time he was on the pitch. His three assists are tied for sixth in the conference while his nine points is tied for eighth.

Forwards Michael Garcia and Philipp Hermann, as well as midfielder Paul Makaj, have each scored a pair of goals this season. The latter of the three netted the lone goal in the draw against Saint Michael's. 

Backs Julio Betar and Isnaba Namussé round out the Southern New Hampshire scorers with one goal a piece while four Penmen have recorded an assist. Although Junior midfielder Nicolas Gonzalez led the team with six shots in their last game, Shubitidze has taken the most shots for the Penmen this season with 24.

While the team ranks eighth in the NE10 in goals scored as a team with 11, their defense has been dominant, allowing only four goals this season. Betar was named NE10 defensive player of the week in week two when he 
helped anchor a back line that recorded a pair of shutouts for the Penmen. After the defence allowed just two shots on goal to Georgian Court, Betar scored the game's first goal in the 26th minute in the 3-0 victory against Queens (N.Y.). Namusse was named NE10 defensive player of the week, as well, in week 4 when he helped SNHU limit Alliance to just a single shot on goal and own a 30-3 advantage in shots. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Preston Neal has started in goal for the last five games, allowing three goals while making 10 saves. Graduate goalkeeper Jackson Rivers started the team's first three games of the season where he was phenomenal for the Penmen, allowing only one goal while making 12 saves for a conference leading .923 save percentage.

Southern New Hampshire boasts a large and wide ranging roster, comprised of 35 players. The roster is broken down into eight freshman, five sophomores, 11 juniors, four seniors, and seven graduate students. The Penmen carry four goalkeepers, 11 backs, 14 midfielders and six forwards on their roster.

After spending seven seasons as an assistant coach with the program, Josh Taylor was named the eighth head coach in SNHU men's soccer program history on April 30, 2015. Under Taylor, the Penmen are 79-25-15 (52-17-12 in conference) across seven seasons. In his first year as head coach, the team went 19-1-1 on their way to their fourth straight conference championship.

Southern New Hampshire, who was voted third in the 2022 NE10 preseason coaches' poll with 101 points, is currently ranked sixth in the conference standings.

UP NEXT
New Haven will continue their homestand on Wednesday, Oct. 5 when they host crosstown rival Southern Connecticut for the battle of Elm City. 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.