WEST HAVEN, Conn. – On a day it controlled the ball for over 43 minutes, the University of New Haven captured the 2021 Northeast-10 Conference championship and ended Bentley University's 13-game winning streak with a 31-14 victory Saturday afternoon at Della Camera Stadium.

The ninth-ranked Falcons, who had not lost since October 2019 and were ranked first in the NCAA Division II East Region, dropped to 8-1 overall and 6-1 Northeast-10 with one regular season game left. New Haven, number 24 in Division II and sixth regionally, stayed unbeaten in the conference at 7-0 and like Bentley, left the field with an 8-1 record.

The New Haven offense, which outgained the Falcons 394-215, was powered by graduate running back Zach Mauro (Woodbury, Conn.) with 175 yards and graduate quarterback Connor Degenhardt (Westford, Mass.), with three of his four touchdowns coming on the ground.

The Chargers set the tone for the day on their opening drive, which covered 82 yards on 16 plays and lasted more than nine minutes. Degenhardt finished it with a two-yard keeper.

Still a 7-0 game midway through the second, Bentley had an outstanding opportunity when senior defensive end Cedie Dashiell II (Buena Park, Calif./Buena Park HS) came up with a strip sack and junior Julien Branch (Randolph, Mass./Milton Academy) recovered at the New Haven five.

However, on the very next play, a jump pass from graduate running back Andrew Brazicki (Franklin Park, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas HS) out of the wildcat was intercepted and Bentley lost an outstanding opportunity to tie the game up.

New Haven answered with another long drive, this one encompassing 13 points, 80 yards and 6:41 of clock time. Once again, Degenhardt kept it, scoring from the Falcon one.

Two plays later, with 13 seconds left in the half, Bentley senior QB Stephen Sturm (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley HS) was intercepted. The Chargers moved from the 50 to the 21 on two plays and senior Briant DeFelice (Massapequa, N.Y.) made it a 17-0 game with a 38-yard field goal on the final snap of the half.

The two teams each scored two touchdowns in the second half, with a 16-yard run by Sturm making it 17-7 on 64 seconds into the third and a 20-yard pass from Sturm to senior Noah Neville (Boston, Mass./Newton North HS) completing the game's scoring with 11:58 remaining in the fourth.

Sturm finished 10 of 22 for 120 yards through the air. He was sacked four times, nearly matching his total of five from the first eight games.

Brazicki ran for 78 yards, including a 50-yarder early in the third, and moved to fourth on the program's all-time rushing list with 2,151 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Sal Lupoli Jr. (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford HS) had 15 tackles and grad student Cole McCubrey (Boylston, Mass./Tahanto Reg. HS) followed with 11.

  Degenhardt completed 13 of 20 for 108 yards and Mauro gained his 176 yards on 27 carries.

New Haven dominated the team statistics as they rushed for 286 yards on 55 carries, limited Bentley to 46 total plays and had a 28-12 advantage in first downs.

Bentley will look to bounce back next Saturday when they host Assumption University on Senior Day.