SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College football team had costly penalties and missed scoring opportunities in the early going as it dropped a 37-6 Northeast-10 contest to No. 3/6 University of New Haven Saturday afternoon at Ronald J. Abdow Field.

The Chargers, who are ranked third in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and sixth in the D2Football.com Media Poll, improved to 9-0 overall and captured the Northeast-10 regular season title with a perfect 8-0 mark in conference games. The Yellow Jackets, who are receiving votes in the AFCA Coaches' Poll, fell to 7-2 overall and finished the season 7-1 in conference play.

The two teams will meet again November 10 for the inaugural Northeast-10 Championship Game, while will be hosted by New Haven at 12 p.m. at Dellacamera Stadium.

AIC struggled from the opening possession of the game, getting called for a false start before they could even get a play off and needing to burn two timeouts in the opening three minutes of the game. A 51-yard run for junior running back Terrell Williams (Hempstead, N.Y.) put the Yellow Jackets at the New Haven 29-yard line, but the drive stalled and the 41-yard field goal attempt by sophomore kicker Daniel Backx (Evesham, England) was blocked and recovered by junior defensive lineman Alex Dyer (Westbrook, Conn.).

The Chargers then drove 63 yards in six plays with the help of two AIC penalties to take the lead on junior running back Mike DeCaro's (Weston, Fla.) three-yard touchdown run. New Haven got the ball right back after the Yellow Jackets ensuing drive lost yardage and the punt that followed setup the Chargers on the AIC 46. Senior running back Victor Jones (Paterson, N.J.) then found the end zone on a 12-yard run that was setup by a 34-yard rush for senior quarterback Ryan Osiecki (Seymour, Conn.), giving New Havena 14-0 lead after the first quarter.

The Yellow Jackets once again appeared to be on their way to a score just before the end of the opening period as sophomore quarterback Kevin Arduino (Cornwall, N.Y.) hit junior wide receiver Matt Brown (Kingston, R.I.) on a 57-yard passing play that put AIC at the New Haven 10-yard line. The Yellow Jackets managed to pick up just one more yard however and Backx pulled a 26-yard field goal attempt wide left with 3:38 left in the quarter.

New Haven then took the ball 80 yards on eight plays and Osiecki capped the drive with a five-yard touchdown run 1:11 into the second quarter, giving the Chargers a 20-0 lead after their two-point conversion attempt failed.

AIC only ran four plays on its next possession before punting the ball back to New Haven, which was again able to march down the field for a score to extend its lead to 27-0. Osiecki finished the seven-play, 70-yard drive with an 18-touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jason Thompson (Indiantown Fla.).

The Yellow Jackets were able to avoid being shutout when in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter when senior wide receiver Stephen Benjamin (Rosedale, N.Y) pulled in a 19-yard touchdown pass from Arduino.

AIC also looked like it might be on its way to a score midway through the third quarter, but Williams had the ball knocked loose after a 13-yard reception and the ball was recovered by the Chargers at their own 30-yard line.

Osiecki completed 21-of-27 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown while also scrambling for 60 yards and another score, while DeCaro and Jones added 52 yards each on the ground and combined for three scores.

Arduino completed 15-of-32 passes for 196 yards, while Williams carried the ball 16 times for 98 yards. Benjamin pulled in four catches for 58 yards and a score, while Brown had three catches for a game-high 73 yards.

Junior linebacker Jaylen Johnson (Linden, N.J.) had a game-high 11 tackles to lead the Chargers on the defensive side of the ball, while senior linebacker Richard Long (New Rochelle, N.Y.) had eight tackles and forced one fumble.

Sophomore linebacker Jaquawne Simpkins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) had nine tackles for AIC, while senior defensive back Markell Rice (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and junior defensive back Shaquille Leggett (Syracuse, N.Y.) had six tackles each.