COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's soccer team defeated the University of New Haven, 1-0, on Saturday at Duffy Field after sophomore Mikel Penin (Bergara, Basque Country/Ipintza Institutua/Spring Hill) scored with 58 seconds remaining to propel the Purple Knights to the Northeast-10 Conference victory.
 
The Purple Knights honored 10 seniors during a pregame ceremony: Omar Alers Rivera (San Sebastian, Puerto Rico/Escuela Antolina Vélez Interamericana de Aguadilla), Liam Barrett (Saugus, Mass./Malden Catholic/UMass Lowell), Ian Boudreau (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury), Dan Colbert (Scituate, Mass./Walpole), Sean Connelly (Arlington, Mass./Arlington), Sebastian Kerr (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional), Javi Milvaques (Pego, Alicante, Spain/Rice Memorial), Alessandro Pescina (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela/Colegio Loyola Gumilla), Brian Poolman (Needham, Mass./Needham), and Nino Scolieri (Franklin Square, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial).
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (5-5-4, 3-3-3 NE10), New Haven (6-7-2, 2-6-2 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Mikel Penin (Bergara, Basque Country/Ipintza Institutua/Spring Hill), 1 goal
• Senior Liam Barrett (Saugus, Mass./Malden Catholic/UMass Lowell), 6 saves

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Gianluca Cerosimo, 11 saves

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights outshot the Chargers 19-12 on the day while taking nine of the 10 corner kicks.
• The win sets the Purple Knights at 12 points on the year, currently good for fifth place in the NE10 standings with other action around the league on Saturday pending. The top eight qualify for the postseason, and Saint Michael's has one regular-season contest remaining.
• Penin's goal is his third game-winning goal of the year, the most by a Purple Knight since Aaron DaCosta '17 in 2016.
• The Purple Knights are now 8-6-1 against New Haven in the series history.
• This was Barrett's seventh career shutout, slotting him into the top 10 in program history.

THE ACTION

• First-year Marshall Butler (Middletown, Conn./Middletown) had the first Purple Knight chance of the first half as he took a header off a corner kick that went wide of the net in the second minute of the game.
• The Chargers saw their first chance on net in the sixth minute as sophomore Augustus McGiff took a shot, but Barrett was able to stop the attempt.
• The Purple Knights took a corner kick in the 27th minute where Butler sent another header on net that New Haven graduate student Albert Porqueras made a team save on to keep the game at a stalemate.
• Scolieri attempted a penalty kick in the 66th minute, but Cerosimo made a save by diving to his right. Scolieri made a second attempt on net on the rebound, though Cerosimo stopped the follow up as well.
• The Chargers had a great opportunity in the 74th minute as sophomore Oskar Kvarnback took a one-timer at the top of the box, but Barrett was positioned perfectly to make the save.
• Junior Alex Gunnarson took a close-range shot in the 85th minute towards the top right corner of the net, though Barrett was able to make a save, catching the shot attempt.
• The Purple Knights pushed the offense in the final minute, as Connelly dribbled up the sideline, finding Penin, who took a shot that Cerosimo saved. Penin gathered the lose ball on the rebound and took another shot, scoring and securing the lead for the Purple Knights.
• New Haven had two chances in the waning seconds, but Barrett denied the first at 89:35 before a second bid was blocked just before the final horn.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Tuesday vs. The College of Saint Rose, 6:30 p.m.