ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – Making its debut away from the friendly confines of Kathy Zolad Stadium, the New Haven men's soccer team continued its early season success with a 2-0 shutout of the Molloy Lions on Saturday afternoon at John A. Darcy Field. With the win, New Haven improves to 3-0-1 overall for the year.
Both of the Chargers goals came in the first half as the two teams each finished that frame with four shots, New Haven netting two of them, while Molloy placed two of its shots on goal forcing New Haven's keeper Archie Watts (Bristol, England/SGS College) to make a pair of saves.
Senior Sandro Branquinho (Covilha, Portugal/Wright State) led the New Haven offense on the day, racking up three points and now leading the team on the year with five total points. Branquinho began the scoring for the Chargers early in the 33rd minute when he drilled a shot from eight yards out that found the back of the net.
Just under five minutes later rookie David Huang (China/Nobel British International School) would net the first goal of his collegiate career in just his first appearance of the season. The first-year player from China was able to score thanks to the assist from Branquinho.
With the two goal lead at the intermission, New Haven kept it simple in the second half, as the game was contested in the midfield for much of the contest. Overall for the game, Molloy led the way with seven shots compared to five for the Chargers, with three of those Lions shots coming in the second half. The Lions weren't able to challenge Watts often as the graduate keeper was only forced to make a pair of saves on the day. New Haven did lead the way with 10 corner kicks, seven of those coming in the second half.
New Haven will stay on the road for their next game, a neutral site contest that is slated to take place at the home of the Hartford Athletic of the United Soccer League, Trinity Health Stadium. The neutral site game will include another Nutmeg State rival as the Chargers will take on the Post Eagles with opening kickoff in the non-conference game scheduled for Tuesday, September 7, under the lights at 7:00 p.m.
