BOX SCORE EASTON, Mass. – A touchdown pass from Ryan Osiecki to Jason Thompson with six seconds remaining completed a 45-41 comeback win for the No. 3/6 University of New Haven football team at Stonehill on Thursday night in a game televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Osiecki and Thompson connected for three touchdowns in the contest.
 
With the win, the Chargers remain unbeaten at 7-0 with a 6-0 Northeast-10 record. The Skyhawks fall to 4-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
 
Osiecki finished the game at 28-of-44 for 316 yards and five touchdowns. Thompson hauled in seven catches for 112 yards and three scores, none more dramatic that his grab to complete a 17-play, 86-yard drive that propelled the Chargers to a victory.
 
Also grabbing touchdowns through the air were Demetrius Washington-Ellison, who finished with six receptions for 67 yards and Kameel Lashley, whose touchdown grab was one of three grabs for 43 yards for the senior tight end. Josh Smart caught four balls for 43 yards.
 
Mike DeCaro led a rushing attack that garnered 227 yards. DeCaro rumbled for 110 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.  Anthony Tillman gained 50 yards on the ground, and Victor Jones accounted for 47.
 
As a unit, the Chargers racked up 550 yards of total offense. Including 140 on kick returns, DeCaro finished with 260 total yards.
 
Defensively, Raheem Stanley led the way with seven tackles, including 2.5 stops-for-loss. He also teamed up with Richard Long for a sack, while Tom Herd collected a sack as one of his two tackles-for-loss. Kendrick Butler made six tackles.
 
Stonehill had 347 yards of offense, led by a 19-for-35, 296-yard passing performance from quarterback Logan Meyer. Meyer threw two touchdowns apiece to Nate Robitaille (7-147) and John Gomes (3-34). The ground game managed just 51 yards against one of the nation’s top defenses, led by 15 yards and a touchdown by Jermetrius Troy.
 
After a New Haven three-and-out on the opening possession, the Skyhawks got on the board first with an 8-yard pass from Meyer to Gomes. J.D. Chalifoux blocked the extra-point attempt to limit Stonehill to a 6-0 lead.
 
The Chargers offense responded with a seven play, 74-yard drive on the ensuing possession. After a 22-yard pass from Osiecki to Thompson kept the drive alive on 3rd-and-7, DeCaro ripped off a 12-yard rush followed by a 26-yard scamper to paydirt. A two-point attempt was no good as the score ran to a 6-6 tie.
 
A 64-yard return of the kickoff set up the Skyhawks on the Charger 31 to start their next drive. However, the New Haven defense would limit Stonehill to a 31-yard field goal that put the home team in front, 9-6.
 
Following an empty trip each way, the Chargers would take the lead on another seven-play, 70-plus yard drive. A 21-yard pass to Lashley was the biggest play of the drive, and another connection from Osiecki to his tight end capped the possession. The 16-yard strike and ensuing extra point gave New Haven its first lead of the day, 13-9, with 13:04 remaining in the first half.
 
Stonehill would reclaim a 16-13 edge on its next possession. A 48-yard completion to Robitaille gave the Skyhawks first down from the one-yard line, and Troy punched it in on the next snap for a touchdown as Stonehill moved the ball 83 yards on eight plays.
 
The lead would be short-lived, as DeCaro gave the Chargers excellent field position with a 39-yard kickoff return to the New Haven 46-yard line. Nine plays later, Osiecki connected with Washington-Ellison from eight yards out for his second touchdown pass of the evening. Brice DeRosa turned a broken extra-point attempt into a two-point conversion with a heave to Lashley to extend the margin to 21-16 with 4:02 to play in the first half.
 
A sack by Herd and a tackle-for-loss on a sniffed-out screen by Mike Gomes gave the Chargers another possession in the first period, but a 45-yard punt pinned New Haven on its own 16-yard line and the half expired with the score unchanged.
 
The second half began with a 66-yard kickoff return by Gomes to set up the Skyhawks at the New Haven 31-yard line. The Chargers would once again hold Stonehill to a field goal that cut the New Haven lead to 21-19.
 
The Blue and Gold responded with a 10-play, 90-yard march that ate up 6:02 of clock and culminated with New Haven taking the first double-digit lead of the game. DeCaro accounted for 37 rushing yards on the drive, and Osiecki to a diving Thompson from 27-yards out provided the points to give the Chargers a 28-19 cushion with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Stonehill answered on its next drive, as Meyer connected with Robitaille for a 47-yard touchdown pass. With the extra point, the Charger lead was back to two points at 28-26 with 3:53 to play in the third quarter.
 
After a roughing the punter penalty erased an apparent three-and-out, the Chargers capitalized on the second chance in the final minute of the third quarter with a 28-yard field goal by Chris Scifo that gave New Haven a 31-26 advantage that it would take into the fourth period.
 
The Skyhawks had an answer yet again, this time capping an eight-play, 71-yard possession with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Gomes. Stonehill added a two-point conversion to take its first lead of the second half at 34-31 with 13:01 remaining in regulation.
 
After each team went three-and-out, the Chargers took possession at their own 14-yard line with 10:30 to. On the first play of the drive, Osiecki was hit as he looked for a receiver and lost the ball. Stonehill intercepted the loose ball and, two plays later, took a 41-31 lead on a seven-yard pass from Meyer to Robitaille – their second scoring connection of the day.
 
The Chargers struck back on their next drive. Osiecki and Thompson connected twice on the possession – once for 24 yards and then for an 18-yard touchdown to pull New Haven within three points, 41-38, with 7:05 to go.
 
New Haven’s defense stepped up on the ensuing Stonehill possession, forcing a punt to reclaim the ball for the offense with 4:47 to go.
 
Osiecki and the offense would take over on the 14-yard line and be immediately backed up to the nine on a false start penalty. The Chargers converted three third downs – two passes to Thompson and a Tillman rush – en route to first down from the 14-yard line. New Haven grabbed nine yards on an Osiecki pass to Smart and a Tillman rush and was faced with a fourth-and-inches. Victor Jones got the call and gained two big yards to earn a first-and-goal from the three-yard line with 19 seconds remaining. After two incomplete passes, Osiecki found Thompson in the corner of the end zone on third down with just six seconds remaining to put New Haven on top, 45-41.
 
Stonehill’s first Hail Mary attempt from the 35-yard line fell incomplete, but the Skyhawks got a second chance with an untimed down from midfield after a roughing the passer call. The second heave was batted around and nearly caught by both Chargers and Skyhawks before hitting the turf to give New Haven a 45-41 victory.
 
The Chargers return to DellaCamera Stadium next Saturday, Oct. 27 for its annual Homecoming Game. Southern Connecticut State visits West Haven for the battle for the Elm City Trophy beginning at 1 p.m.