NEW LONDON, Conn.--Pat Devlin (Washington Crossing, Pa.) knocked one in from 12 yards out with 8:24 remaining in regulation to lead the Connecticut College men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory against Mitchell College (1-2) in its season opener on Freeman Field Tuesday afternoon.

The Camels enjoyed a 28-to-3 advantage on the shot chart and held a 13-to-1 edge in the second half.  Junior Mark Cameron (Bethesda, Md.) made two saves to earn the shutout for the hosts.

Mitchell College sophomore Romer Ochoa (Uncasville, Conn.) had four saves in the first stanza. Sophomore Anthony Drake (Wethersfield, Conn.) took the loss but impressed the crowd of 352 with his athleticism and his eight save performance that included a diving stab on a penalty shot that kept the game scoreless with 25:45 remaining.

With 18:40 to go, Drake denied Daniel Adair (Foxboro, Mass.) on his scoring bid, making a terrific tip save up near the top of the crossbar.

"They play with a packed defense," Devlin said after the win. "It was tough to get around it first but with the help from the back line moving the ball into the midfield and getting good runs from the forwards we were able to get behind them and finish the game off.  It was a good effort all around."

Mitchell College sophomore Jose Roman III of New London was impressive at outside back, coming up with a couple of key breakups and victories on 50/50 balls.

Connecticut College senior Ajami Gikandi of Princeton, N.J. was able to lead a young defense in its first test of the season.

"We have three first time starters in the back with two sophomores and a freshman," Gikandi said. "I'm the old one so I just try to organize things and make sure that everyone's on board working off of each other, covering and pressuring. I was in the same position as a freshman so it's nice to just help the others."

Adair was active all day, applying pressure on goal with some nice shots but was relieved when Devlin delivered the clutch score down the stretch.

"As a team we had a lot of shots but their goalies really played big for them," Adair said. "Their defense was really packed in the box. It was hard to get good shots on target so we had to shoot from long a lot but at the end Pat saved us so we'll take the W."

The Camels open NESCAC play with 12:00 p.m. game at Middlebury College Saturday.

Mitchell will host Fisher College for a 3:00 p.m. game in New London.