Three first half goals was all the offense the Chestnut Hill College Men's Soccer team needed as they hung on to defeat region-ranked Caldwell University 3-2 Wednesday afternoon at the Caldwell Athletic Fields in Caldwell, New Jersey.

The Griffins improve to 3-5-1 overall and 2-3 in Central Atlantic Collegiate conference games with the win.   The cougars, ranked #6 in the East region in the most recent United soccer Coaches poll, fall to 7-2-1 overall and 3-2-1 in league play.

Abdoulaye Kamagate opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 9:13 mark of the first half and Malik Palmer gave the Griffins a 2-0 lead, taking a pass from David Cortez and putting a shot past CU goalkeeper Kevin Sabbadin and a 2-0 Griffins lead at the 21:42 mark.

Caldwell's Gisle Myrle cut the Griffins' lead in half with a goal at the 37:02 mark.  CHC's Juan Ortiz pushed the lead back up to two scores with an unassisted goal just 19 seconds later as the Griffins then took a 3-1 lead into halftime.

Myrle scored his second goal of the game in the 74^th minute to cut the score to 3-2.  The Cougar offense, however, continued to pepper Griffin goalkeeper Eran Shifris in the second half outshooting the Griffins 14-2 (9-2 on target).  Shifris held firm, not allowing the Cougars to get the equalizer as the Griffins hung on for the win, their first on the Cougars home field since the 2010 season.

Shifris finished the game with ten saves on the afternoon while allowing just the two goals.  The Griffins meanwhile had just seven shots on goal for the game and only two in the second half.    Ortiz and Kamagate had two shots on goal apiece.

The Chestnut Hill College Men's Soccer team returns to action on Saturday, October 14, 2023, when they host Post University at Victory Field #1.  Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.