NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Colby-Sawyer College men's soccer team picked up its first victory of the 2026 campaign on Sunday afternoon, riding a pair of quick second-half strikes to defeat Lesley University, 2-1, at Kelsey Field.
Rapid Recap:
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Both defenses dictated play throughout a scoreless opening 45 minutes. The Chargers produced six first-half shots and forced Lynx goalkeeper Aiden Hendricks into three saves, while Colby-Sawyer goalkeeper Trenton Mikulanis (San Diego, Cali.) turned away the lone shot on target he faced to keep the contest tied 0-0 at halftime.
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Colby-Sawyer wasted zero time establishing control coming out of the intermission. Just 1:31 into the second half, Sophomore Andres Cuellar-Vera (Naples, Fla.) found an opening in the defense and slipped home his first goal of the season at 46:31 to break the deadlock and put the Chargers up 1-0.
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Exactly 3:01 later, Colby-Sawyer doubled its cushion. In an extraordinary moment, Mikulanis went to make a punt down field and saw a bounce from the 18 yard line go over the keepers head and into the back of the net at 49:32 for his first goal of the year and his first collegiate goal, handing the Chargers a 2-0 advantage.
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Lesley answered back in the 59th minute when Tomas Woelper converted a feed from Lukas Halper at 58:17 to cut the deficit to 2-1.
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The Chargers' back line locked down the Lynx over the final 30 minutes, holding the visitors to just one shot down the stretch while generating seven second-half shots of their own to preserve the 2-1 victory.
Inside the Numbers:
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Mikulanis put together a standout two-way afternoon, scoring a second-half goal while playing the full 90 minutes in net and stopping two shots to earn his first goalkeeping victory of the season while securing the game winning goal.
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Cuellar-Vera provided the game's opening marker, finishing with three shots (one on frame).
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First-year Alex Crowe (Hillsborough, N.H.) paced the Colby-Sawyer attack with four shots, while senior Kaden Lewis (Lunenburg, Mass.) recorded three attempts (one on target) and sophomore Rashad Ortiz-Peck (West Palm Beach, Fla.) placed both of his bids on frame.
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Colby-Sawyer held a significant advantage in total shots (17-7) and shots on goal (6-3).
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Lesley held a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Up Next:
The Chargers (1-1-1) return to the pitch on Wednesday, September 9, hosting Plymouth, N.H. for a non-conference match against Plymouth State University, with kickoff set for 4:45 PM.
