Game Details: November 17 | 1:00 p.m.
Location: John A. Farrell Stadium | West Chester, Pa.
Game Links: Watch Live | Live Audio | Live Stats | Tickets
Twitter: @UNHChargers | @NewHavenNation
New Haven Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Notes
West Chester Links: News | Roster | Schedule | Stats | Game Notes

THE FIRST LOOK
New Haven returns to the NCAA Division II National Championship tournament for the first time in six seasons, playing at No. 8 West Chester, one of the nine remaining undefeated teams in all of Division II. The Chargers earned one of seven positions from Super Region One after closing out the regular season with an 8-1 record in the Northeast-10 with the lone loss to LIU Post 17-13 in the final game of the regular season.

INSIDE THE SERIES

·         New Haven and West Chester meet for the 16th time in a series that dates back to the 1990 season. Overall, the Chargers hold an 8-6-1 record in the-all-time series.

·         During the 90's, the two squads met nearly every season with the exception of 1994 and 1999, with New Haven holding a 4-3-1 edge during that stretch.

·         Coming into the new century, the Chargers won the first three meetings and four of the first five.

·         The Golden Rams have won the last two meetings which came in back-to-back seasons; 2013 and 2014.

A WIN OVER WEST CHESTER WOULD...

·         be New Haven's first win in the NCAA Championship since the second round in 2011 against Kutztown, 44-37.

·         be the 248th overall victory in the 40-year history of Charger Football.

·         be the 218th victory since the Chargers began playing at the Division II level - first DII season was 1982.

GAME DAY FORECAST
The pick of the weekend is what's on tap in West Chester with high temperatures of 44 degrees under sunny skies in the forecast at Farrell Stadium. Winds will come from the west-north-west at seven miles per hour with the humidity level at 72%, however there is a minimal 10% chance of precipitation.

NEXT ON TAP
The winner of the first round match-up between West Chester and New Haven will advance to the second round of the national tournament where they will face the winner between second seeded LIU Post and seventh seeded Slippery Rock.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS
Looking for its first NCAA tournament victory since 2011, New Haven will turn to its senior leadership against West Chester. Averaging 12.0 points more than their opponents, the Chargers are led by senior quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) who is completing 64 percent of his passes for 2,342 yards and 26 touchdowns, including four four-touchdown performances, three of which have come since the bye week. Patterson's  primary target has been transfer receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) (97.6 receiving yards per game). Williams has completed 56 catches on the year for 976 total yards, adding 10 touchdowns. All but one of his 10 TD's have gone for 25 or more yards. Overall, Patterson has relied on 14 targets including AJ Greene (Middle Island, N.Y./Newfield) who boasts 28 catches for 433 yards and the season's longest TD catch at 47 yards. On the ground, New Haven has increased its output each week, averaging 169.5 yards per game. Junior Ryan McCarthy (Montclair, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and senior Chris Liggio (Mount Laurel, N.J./Holy Cross) have done the bulk of the work in the running game, entering week 12 with 674 and 513 total yards, respectively. Defensively, New Haven's Jordan Francklin (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) (75 tackles), Mcprecia Remy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millwood) (66 tackles), CJ Fitzpatrick (54 tackles) and Scott Lavelle (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) (53 tackles) lead a unit that has forced at least one turnover in seven of the 10 games this year, totaling 13 on the season (nine interceptions and four fumbles).

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
The No. 8 team in all of Division II, West Chester is among the best in the nation in a number of categories including scoring defense (eighth), rushing defense (second) and passes intercepted (six). Individually, West Chester is led by its quarterback A.J. Long who is currently fifth in all of Division II with a 67 percent completion average. A Division I transfer from Syracuse University, Long has completed 133 of 200 pass attempts for 1,920 yards and 21 touchdowns. Additionally, he also leads the running game where he has net 692 yards on 147 attempts. Among 12 targets that Long has relied on, junior Lex Rosario leads the team with 720 yards on 48 catches. Next closest on the docket is sophomore Rasheem James who has 20 less catches with 376 yards. On the ground, West Chester is averaging 215 yards per game while holding their opponents to a minimal 60 yards per game. Joining Long in leading the team is Mark Dukes with 636 net yards. Overall defensively, West Chester is holding its opponents to just 14.7 points per game while scoring nearly 40 (39.3).

HUMAN FLY TRAP
Graduate receiver Joe Caico (Hopedale, Mass./Worcester) spent the last four years helping lead the New Haven baseball team to a Northeast-10 Conference Championship and a pair of trips to the NCAA Division II Championships, however he decided to use his final eligibility on a different field, the Blue and Gold turf of DellaCamera Stadium. The transition hasn't been hard for the outfielder and his skills tracking down fly balls has paid off on the gridiron where he has completed four catches for 41 yards, but most importantly, the Hopedale, Mass. native has converted all four of his receptions into six points for the Chargers and he is currently fourth on the team in scoring.

RECORD WATCH
Quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) threw for a career-high 366 yards in the regular season finale at LIU Post last week, surpassing Ryan Osiecki (2009-12) for the all-time school record in passing yards. Patterson now has 2,592 career yards, 20 more than Osiecki racked up in her career. Despite grabbing that record, Patterson remains on the hunt in two more categories, entering Saturday's game needing 27 completions to pass Osiecki (754) in that category. Finally, Patterson is currently second all-time in career passing touchdowns with 77, while Osiecki holds the top spot with 91 passing touchdowns.

NEARLY A SWEEP
Following the 49-21 home finale win over Saint Anselm a trio of Chargers earned weekly accolades from the Northeast-10 with Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) garnering NE10 Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Patterson threw for 185 yards and four touchdowns against the Hawks. Transfer running back Nyshere Woodson grabbed his first collegiate honor when he was tabbed the NE10 Rookie of the Week. The sophomore racked up 119 yards on the ground, including a pair of touchdowns, one of which went for 58 yards. Rounding out the honors was kicker/punter Francis Palmer (Brewster, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) who was tabbed Special Teams Player of the Week. Palmer averaged 61.6 yards on kickoffs and 37.0 yards on punts.

HONOR ROLL
Following the Chargers NE10 opening victory over Pace, a pair of players were honored by the league office on Monday when quarterback Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) was named Player of the Week and Jordan Francklin (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week. The accolades are the first of the season for the Blue and Gold. Patterson amassed 305 yards and threw a pair of touchdown passes while running in for a third against the Setters. Overall for the game, Patterson completed 78.6 percent of his pass attempts and collected 16 yards on the ground. Francklin led New Haven's defense for the second-straight week when he collected 10 tackles, recovered a fumble and picked off a Dan Anarella pass returning it 43 yards to set up a New Haven scoring drive. For the season, Francklin leads the Chargers with 18 tackles, including 2.5 for loss.

HONOR ROLL PART TWO
Following a 13 point game, the most points by a single Charger in the tenure of head coach Chris Pincince, New Haven's Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) secure his first collegiate honor when he was tabbed the NE10 Special Teams Player of the Week. Stalenyj drilled his three field goal attempts straight down the middle from distances of 26, 27 and 30 yards, which is the longest of the season for the Blue and Gold. In addition, he finished a perfect 4-of-4 in point after attempts.

HONOR ROLL TAKE THREE
Following a career night at Merrimack, transfer wide receiver Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) hauled in his first NE10 honor as a Charger when he was named the Offensive Player of the Week on September 24. Williams is the second New Haven player to pick up the award following Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) in week two, while kicker Michael Stalenyj (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors following week three. Against Merrimack, Williams racked up a career-high 175 yard on nine catches, which included three touchdowns. All three of his touchdown catches went for 35 yards or more. Among them were back-to-back 36-yard touchdowns which came on the first and second play of their respective drives.

LAST TIME THEY MET
In its 2014 season opener, New Haven football team was edged 35-30 by No. 10/11 nationally-ranked West Chester. Leading the Chargers was quarterback Joey Bradley who went 32-for-48 for 311 yards and one touchdown in addition to a rushing touchdown in his first career start for the Chargers. The outing marked the first game at the helm for Head Coach Chris Pincince. DeeJay White was the recipient of seven balls for 83 yards, while Henry Adegunle reeled in six passes for 54 yards and a score. Also on the outside, Ty Headen snagged five passes of 44 yards. Out of the backfield, Andre Anderson and Trevor Officer had three grabs apiece for 34 and 30 yards, respectively. Officer was New Haven's leading rusher with 42 yards and a touchdown, while Anderson picked up 32 yards and a score on the ground. Defensively, three players making their New Haven debuts led the way. Matt Zakrzewski made a team-best 10 tackles to go along with a fumble forced and recovered. Tarik Pusey also pounced on a pivotal fumble in the fourth quarter, and Matt Olivo reeled in an interception.

LAST TIME OUT
A last minute drive came up just short of the goal line as the New Haven football team dropped a 17-13 decision to the LIU Post Pioneers. Leading the Chargers on the afternoon was 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. 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 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. 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.

VERY WELL SEASONED
Arguably the longest tenured Charger in program history, New Haven has the benefit of a quarterback who has started the last 35 games under center. Prior to taking over, He had the opportunity to learn from two great quarterbacks before he even entered the white lines. For his career, Patterson has completed nearly 60 percent of his attempts and stands second in program history in completions (611) and total yards (8,072). He has also thrown 59 touchdowns which enters the week third in Charger history. Patterson needs just 144 completions and 1,501 yards to take over the top spots in each category, while with 13 touchdowns he would move into second all-time.

RETURNING FOR MORE
Graduate student tight end Jonathan Badyna (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) returns to complete his eligibility in 2018 after having his senior campaign cut very short when he suffered a season-ending injury in the opening game of the season. An NE10 Second Team honoree as a junior, Badyna Started all 33 games through the 2016 season. Including this year, Badyna has completed 41 catches for 311 yards and six touchdowns. At 6-3, 250 he also provides a big block in addition to a large O-Line.

LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING
In a vote of all active football student-athletes, the Chargers named four Captains for the 2018 season, three of which return to that role for a second-straight year. Ajee Patterson (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) and Jonathan Badyna (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) will represent the offense while Miles Pease (Sicklerville, N.J./Saint Joseph / Milford Academy) and Mark Clements (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest / Worcester Academy) make up the two defensive members of the leadership corps. Clements is the lone new face among the captains after taking the 2016 season away from the Blue and Gold turf.

MR. POPULARITY
With a host of connections to the NFL, junior wide receiver Damon Rodgers (Charlotte, N.C./Cheshire Academy) brings another level of attention to the Blue and Gold. The majority of that attention comes in the form of Instagram where he has more than 318,000 followers. Rodgers came to New Haven with a pair of immediate family members who are currently in the NFL, while his cousin Jairus Byrd is a DB with the Carolina Panthers. His connections to the Panthers goes deeper as his father, Richard, coaches the Carolina defensive backs. Additionally, his brother, Richard, is a tight end with the Philadelphia Eagles after playing the last four seasons with Green Bay. Finally, Rodgers uncle, Gil, played 10 years and was a Pro Bowl cornerback with the San Diego Chargers and is currently an assistant coach with Illinois.

TRANSFERS
The Chargers roster in 2018 includes eight newcomers who enter with a significant amount of experience as all come to West Haven from other institutions. Among those eight, three are expected to start the season opener, however all eight will play a significant role. Included among the transfers for 2018 is a graduate wide receiver who spent the last four years at NE10 foe American International, Ju'an Williams (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central). Three other transfers also played in the NE10, all of which come across town from rival Southern Connecticut State. Included in that trio is Osaro Emersole who is the projected starter at left tackle. Additionally, two of the transfers come from Division I institutions with Francis Palmer (Brewster, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling) making the trip south on I-91 from Central Connecticut State University. With the loss of kicker/punter Danny Stock (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge / Buffalo State) from last season, Palmer will make an immediate impact with his boot.

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO
Among nine players who were named to All-Conference teams in 2017, the Chargers return four, all of which on the defensive side of the ball. A trio of returning honorees come from the NE10 All-Conference Second Team with linebackers Jordan Francklin (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) and Scott Lavelle (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and lineman Christian Sullivan (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) all earning the distinction. Combined, the trio accounted for 152 total tackles last season, including 24 tackles for loss. Among those 24 tackles for loss were 9.5 sacks as well. Despite suffering a season-ending injury midway through the year, linebacker Mcprecia Remy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millwood) scored All-Rookie accolades last season. In just four games, Remy collected 20 tackles, including two for loss, while also picking off a pair of passes and forcing a fumble.

FAMILIAR FACES ON THE SIDELINES
They may not be between the white lines in 2018, but a pair of All-Americans, Zach Voytek and Eliot Leubner (Rochester, N.Y./Rush Henrietta), will return to the sidelines for the Blue and Gold as members of the coaching staff.  Voytek, who returns to New Haven after participating in camp with the Buffalo Bills in the fall of 2017, will work with the Chargers tight ends. Leubner, who completed his eligibility last fall as a key piece of the o-line, will serve as the Director of Football Operations.

WHAT D2FOOTBALL IS PREDICTING FOR WEEK 12 (Paul Falewicz)
Both teams have long and storied traditions in the playoffs. Both teams have advanced deep into the postseason and no stranger to playing at this time of the year. But West Chester is a very talented team. They could easily be the top seed in the region and sitting out the bye this weekend. They will have a chip on their shoulder that they were third in the region and out to prove that ranking was not justified (see Shepherd in 2016). They have the experience to make a deep run in the playoffs and will use that chip on their shoulder to make big plays and win this weekend.
Prediction: West Chester 35 New Haven 17

PRESEASON PROPS
In a vote of head coaches, the New Haven football team was picked to finish fourth in the NE10 as announced by the league office. The Chargers, who finished 2017 with a 6-5 record under fourth year head coach Chris Pincince, totaled 57 points, six shy of the Bentley Falcons who were picked to finish third. Assumption and LIU Post who finished 2017 first and second in the standings were picked to finish in the same order garnering 77 and 76 points, respectively. The Greyhounds garnered six of the 10 possible first place votes with LIU Post earning the remaining four.
2018 Northeast-10 Football Coaches' Poll
1. Assumption – 77 (6)
2. LIU Post – 75 (4)
3. Bentley – 63
4. New Haven – 57
5. Southern Conn. – 44
6. Merrimack – 40
7. Stonehill – 36
8. Pace – 24
9. American Int'l – 20
10. Saint Anselm – 13
(#) indicates first-place votes