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Pace 17, St. Anselm 14

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College football team was unable to complete a dramatic comeback over the host Setters from Pace University on Saturday, falling by a 17-14 margin in Northeast-10 Conference play.

Saint Anselm dropped to 5-3 overall on the season and to 2-3 versus NE-10 opponents. Pace has now won three games in a row, improving to 6-3 overall while winning four of its six games versus league opponents this season.

GAME STATISTICS

Down by three points following a 30-yard touchdown reception by sophomore Carson Goda (Bradenton, Fla.) with 9:52 left in regulation, Saint Anselm had multiple opportunities to tie the game or go ahead. However, Saint Anselm failed to convert twice on fourth down as quarterback Anthony Santino (Woodbridge, N.J.) was sacked a total of four times for a combined loss of 27 yards in that span.

The Hawks defense kept the team in the game during that stretch, forcing two punts late in the fourth quarter while also recovering a Pace fumble, forced by sophomore Austin Spille (Austin, Texas) and picked up by senior Max Tempchin (Silver Spring, Md.) with 8:33 remaining in regulation time.

With Pace unable to put the game away, Saint Anselm received the ball back with eight seconds left, down three, and Santino hooked up with senior Bobby Long (Bridgewater, Mass.) on a 41-yard desperation pass that caromed off the Pace defense down field. However, Long was brought down at the 11-yard line after catching the ball as time expired.

Throwing his first passes of the season, Santino finished the day 17-for-27 through the air, racking up 202 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked six times. Junior quarterback Drew Willoughby (Austin, Texas) completed three of his first six passes before departing the game in the first half.

Pace scored on its opening possession, completing an eight-play drive in just over five minutes to put the Hawks in an early hole. After the teams traded punts on their next offensive drives, a costly fumble by Saint Anselm near midfield set up the second Pace touchdown with 2:32 to go in the first.

The Hawks were poised to get three points to start the second quarter, but a 34-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Pace. With the Setters driving, Saint Anselm stepped up on defense with a forced fumble by junior Devin Wood (Merrimack, N.H.) that was recovered by senior Brandon Hudgins (Boynton Beach, Fla.) at the Pace 32.

Santino, who came on in relief for Saint Anselm under center, threw his first collegiate touchdown to classmate Bowen Lewis (Austin, Texas) with 7:11 remaining in the opening half to halve the Pace advantage before a sophomore Patrick Carroll (Stafford, Va.) extra point conversion.

After four punts down the stretch, the Setters were poised to tack on another score in the first half’s final minute but the defense for Saint Anselm continued to produce. With the Pace quarterback scrambling toward the goal line with 10 seconds to go, senior Taylor Pawelkoski (Bradenton, Fla.) forced a fumble that was recovered by Hudgins to keep the Hawks in striking distance at the break.

Pawelkoski led Saint Anselm on defense with nine tackles, including six of the solo variety. In total, Hudgins recovered two fumbles for the Hawks, tying the program record established six times prior, most recently by Kyrel Jaundoo against Pace on Sept. 12, 2015.

Senior Anthony Brown (Belton, Texas), along with a team-leading six pass receptions, also had two lengthy punt returns totaling 48 yards, becoming the second student-athlete in team history (Aaron Jeanson) to post at least 400 punt return yards in a career.

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