The game and perhaps another perfect run through the Northeast-10 Conference was there for the taking when the University of New Haven football headed up to face Assumption on Saturday afternoon.

One more play might have been all that was needed for the Chargers to come way with another hard-earned road win. Instead, they will be left to ponder what went wrong in a 14-13 loss that dropped New Haven out of first place in the NE10 standings. Assumption currently holds onto the NE10 lead since the Greyhounds have played one more conference game than the Chargers. If New Haven wins out, the Chargers would earn a share of the NE10 title with Assumption and Bentley also able to finish with just one conference loss.

"Just a couple of inches away" was how quarterback Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass./Westford Academy) summed up a frustrating day at the office as the Chargers saw their 16-game conference winning streak come to an end.

A missed extra point and blocked field goal forced the Chargers to play from behind for the entire second half.

It didn't help that New Haven started drives at the 14, 9 and 25 and the Chargers were unable to mount the one possession they needed to regain the lead.

A pass interference call against Assumption on a key third-down play and a successful quarterback sneak helped New Haven drive into Assumption territory late in the third quarter but a couple of incompletions short circuited that possession.

Khyon Fitzpatrick (Union, N.J./Paramus Catholic) forced an incompletion on third down the next time the Greyhounds got the ball.

New Haven (6-2, 4-1 in the Northeast-10) drove 78 yards to set up a field goal. An offsides penalty against Assumption made it a 25-yard attempt. However, Brandon Santell blocked the kick with 11:47 left to play.

During the last two drives, balls grazed off the fingers of New Haven pass catchers. The final offensive play resulted in tight end Kevin Foelsch (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) being surrounded by three Assumption defenders as the ball fell incomplete.

"We didn't make any plays," New Haven coach Chris Pincince said after New Haven saw its six-game winning streak come to an end. "The ball went through at least three or four people's hands and we have to finish those things."

Barring an upset against Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut in the final two regular-season games, the Chargers will finish tied for the NE10 title. However, the conference champion does not receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II playoffs so there is a chance that no NE10 team gets a playoff spot.

"We'll see what happens," Pincince said. "We'll just have to hope for a little bit because we didn't do our jobs. We turned the football over, we didn't execute in the kicking game, we kept four points off the board.

"It is going to sting a little bit. We were pretty close to accomplishing what we wanted to today. One of our goals is still attainable and hopefully we show up tomorrow and go to work."

It has been quite the season for New Haven which has faced the top teams in the conference (Assumption, Bentley and Saint Anselm) on the road and almost picked up a win over a nationally ranked Bowie State team in the season opener.

"I would go to battle with these guys every day, regardless of the circumstances," Degenhardt said.

"We just have to stick together and focus on what we can control, see what went wrong, stick together and finish the season and that is all we can do."

Assumption quarterback Jake Cady followed up a 23-yard pass to Carl Saur with a 23-yard scoring pass to Quinn Sieger to put Assumption up 7-0. It was the first time in the three games at Brian Kelly '83 Stadium this season that the Greyhounds scored a touchdown.

New Haven answered back with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Degenhardt to Dev Holmes (Troy, N.Y./Troy).

The Chargers took the lead on a fourth-down 29-yard TD pass from Degenhardt to Holmes. The extra point was no good.

The next time the Chargers got the ball, Degenhardt was sacked on third down on the shadow of the goal line.

Assumption started the next drive at the 46. Keith Mancini took a pass that nearly hit the turf and weaved his way for 34 yards to the 8. Two plays later, Berrell Neal's scoring run and the extra point gave Assumption the one-point lead.

The Greyhounds (6-2, 5-1) had a chance to add to the lead when Degenhardt lost the ball as he stumbled to the ground. Tackles by David Onyemem (Dracut, Mass./Central Catholic) and Jack Quander (Gainsville, Va./Patriot) forced a punt.

It should not be a surprise that the game wasn't decided until the final minute as each of the last three games between the teams finished as one-score contests with the Chargers winning all three of them. The total yards finished 286-277 in favor of visiting New Haven.

"They play the same game every single week and they did it again,"

Pincince said of Assumption. "They run a physical offense, they won field position a couple of times. In the end, they are a good football team coached by a good staff."

Holmes finished with 92 yards on six catches and the two TDs, Christopher Ais (Stoughton, Mass./Stoughton) had 76 yards on 20 carries. His twin brother Christian had an interception while Fitzpatrick led the Chargers with seven tackles.