NEW BRITAIN, CT – The Manhattan Jaspers
Men's Soccer team (0-1-0) fell to the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State University (1-0-0) by a score of 3-2 on the CCSU Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon to open the 2026 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Green and White opened the season with a fresh look highlighted by over two-dozen newcomers, with five returners from a season ago.
- Just 17 minutes in, the newcomers made their names known, as sophomore midfielder Pau Mascarell found junior midfielder Tycho van Haaren on a perfect feed down into the final third, where van Haaren, in traffic, found the back of the net with pressure to his rear, and put the Jaspers ahead by one.
- Opening the second half, the Jaspers continued right where they left off with former NJIT midfielder Khaled Daoud pick pocketed the Blue Devil midfielder and fed a perfect ball to senior striker Ziv Dahan and put the Jaspers ahead by two.
- Midway through the second half, the Blue Devils found its rhythm off a Giovanni Rivera miscue in the opposing 18-yard box, to get CCSU on the board off a penalty kick.
- Three minutes later, the Blue Devils added another two goals in seven minutes to leapfrog over Manhattan and never look back.
STATS AND NOTES
- Freshman goalkeeper Gaspar Homar Bennasar starred eight saves on 15 shots faced throughout his first collegiate fixture.
- After returning from a season long injury, senior forward Ziv Dahan posted his first goal since October 26, 2024, after being selected to the All-MAAC First Team with a team high seven goals on the year. Additionally, Dahan paced the Jaspers with three shots on goal.
- Junior forward Tycho van Haaren and Pearl River Community College transfer posted his first NCAA goal to open the campaign.
- Sophomore midfielder Pau Mascarell logged the first assist in the feed to the aforementioned van Haaren.
- The Jaspers were outshot 15-10 and 11-5 in shots-on-goal. Additionally, the Jaspers posted eight saves, with four coming in each half.
- Manhattan led the match with six corner kicks in the nine taken, pacing the pitch in fouls with 16-14.
NEXT UP
The Green and White are back in action on Thursday, August 27, when the Jaspers cross the Hudson River and set its sights on the Ironbound and face the Highlanders of NJIT inside Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium beginning at 6 p.m. The fixture can be viewed on AmericaEast.TV for free.
Follow Manhattan
Men's Soccer on X and Instagram at @JaspersSoccer.
