BROOKEVILLE, N.Y. – A last minute drive came up just short of the goal line as the University of New Haven football team dropped a 17-13 decision to the LIU Post Pioneers for the Northeast-10 regular season championship. The Chargers will now await word of a possible postseason bid to the NCAA Championship. New Haven entered the week in the No. 4 spot in Super Region One with the top seven teams earning a bid to the national tournament field. The NCAA selection show is slated for 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11.
Leading the Chargers on the afternoon was senior quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) who amassed 366 yards, completing 32-of-49 pass attempts with one touchdown, with the 32 completions a career-high. The 366 yards for Patterson were enough for him to take over the all-time record in career passing yards, giving him 9,592, 20 more than Ryan Osieki (2009-12). Patterson also ran for 11 yards on a pair of carries. His one touchdown pass also gives him 26 total for the season, tied for sixth most in a single season.
Joining Patterson in leading the team was graduate transfer receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) who finished with a career-high 217, giving him 976 through the completion of the regular season, which is the eighth most in a single season in program history. Overall, Williams completed 13 catches, including the lone touchdown of the afternoon, a 46-yard haul with under a minute remaining before the halftime break.
Overall, Patterson relied on nine total targets downfield with Damon Rodgers (Charlotte, N.C./Cheshire Academy) following Williams with six catches for 45 yards. A.J. Greene and Chris Carlyle (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) rounded out the leading receivers with 38 and 33 yards respectively.
On the ground, New Haven finished with 76 total yards with junior Ryan McCarthy (Montclair, N.J./Bergen Catholic) taking the bulk of the attempts (11), leading the way with 42 yards. Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) followed with 24 yards as Patterson's 11 rounded out the days rushing.
In addition to Patterson and Williams' 46-yard touchdown, the remainder of the Chargers scoring came off the boot of Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) who finished with a pair of field goals on his two attempts for the afternoon. Stalenyj's two field goals came from 29 and 22 yards out. Through the regular season, Stalenyj finished a perfect 7-of-7 in his rookie campaign kicking for the Chargers.
Defensively, New Haven was led by defensive lineman Markel Johnson (Jersey City, N.J./Lincoln) who closed out the day with 10 tackles. Included for Johnson were a two tackles for loss, both of which were sacks which resulted in 11 yards lost for the Pioneers. Joining him in leading the defense was Shawn Tafe (Bronx, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) and Mcprecia Remy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millwood) who finished with eight and seven tackles, respectively.
After both teams were held on fourth down early in the game, the Pioneers were the first to break through when Joey Tolgyesi broke the scoreless game with a 24-yard field goal. The Pioneers would strike again five minutes into the second quarter on an 11 play, 70 yard drive, taking a 10-0 lead.
The Blue and Gold answered when getting the ball back with under two minutes to play in the opening half. The Chargers used just 41 seconds to complete a 51-yard drive with Patterson going deep on the third play to find Williams who ran uncontested into the end zone. New Haven had an opportunity to answer just a few minutes prior to that first touchdown when Damon Rodgers (Charlotte, N.C./Cheshire Academy) completed a pass from Patterson and looked to have crossed the plane of the goal line but his arm was hit and the ball popped out and after being recovered by the Pioneers was ruled a touchback.
Trailing by three on their first drive in the second half, the Chargers turned to Stalenyj for the first time on the day as he knotted the game, drilling his attempt from 29 yards out straight down the middle to tie the game. Overall, the scoring drive for the Chargers 57 total yards on 11 plays.
Both teams would be held out of the end zone through the nine minute mark in the fourth quarter Stalenyj struck again, this time from 22 yards out as he completed the longest drive of the day for the Blue and Gold, an 87-yard drive that used 14 plays.
Post answered back on the next drive when they regained the lead on a 44-yard completion to Michael Richardson with 6:29 to play. New Haven marched right down the field on the ensuing drive but Patterson had a deep pass to Carlyle picked off at the Pioneers 10 yard line. The defense responded however, holding Post to a three-and-out series to with New Haven getting the ball back at the LIU Post 35 with just over three minutes remaining.
After a first down on the first set of drives put New Haven within striking distance at the Pioneers 23 yard line, the Blue and Gold were called for a holding penalty that gave them long yardage. Facing third-and-20, a 19-yard completion to Carlyle gave the Chargers life as another completion, this time for six yards to Jake Lareau (East Granby, Conn./East Granby) provided a fresh set of downs with under a minute to play. The Chargers would take four attempts at the end zone with the last one completed to Brett Huber (Milford, Conn./Foran) but he was stopped at the one-yard line as time expired.
