IUP Advances to NCAA Regional Final With Win Over New Haven

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, November 24, 2012 | 11:37 PM

And then there was one, IUP moved on to the NCAA Regional Finals with a road victory on Saturday, here is the game recap:

NCAA Division II Playoffs:  IUP 17 – New Haven 14
The #13 ranked Crimson Hawks had their halftime lead hold up, breaking up a pass in the end zone on the final play to advance to the regional final next week against top-seeded Winston-Salem.

IUP took the lead on the second play from scrimmage. De'Antwan Williams returned the opening kickoff 86 yards to the 7 yard line, Harvie Tuck scored on a 3 yard run. New Haven missed an opportunity, Chris Scifo missed a 42 yard field goal on their first possession. The Crimson Hawks went up 10-0 on a Brett Ullman 24 yard field goal. Ryan Osiecki hit Jason Thompson for a 68 yard touchdown to cut the IUP lead to 3 after one quarter.
 

The second quarter was dominated early by New Haven, who used a 16 play drive and took off 8 minutes off the clock. Osiecki hit Thompson for a 1 yard score and a 14-10 lead. IUP got the lead back on a 9 play drive, Mike Box hit T Dummermuth for a 6 yard touchdown with 24 seconds left in the half.
 

The defenses took over in the second half, neither team could gain ground. New Haven took over with 3:40 remaining in regulation at their own 6 yard line. Osiecki drove down the field, getting to the IUP 31 with 14 seconds remaining. But the IUP defense held again, forcing Ociecki to throw incomplete with 8 seconds left, he then threw into the end zone, $looking to Thompson for a third touchdown, but the secondary held strong and batted the ball down to end the game.
 

For IUP, now 12-1 on the season, Williams led the way with 24 carries for 125 yards. New Haven finishes 10-1 on the season, Osiecki was 15-32 for 194 yards and the 2 scores. Thompson had just the 2 catches for 69 yards.