BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 25, 2014) - On Saturday, the LIU Post football team suffered a nailbiting 27-24 loss to American International in a Northeast-10 Conference first-place match-up at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets (6-2, 6-1 NE-10) opened the scoring in the contest, on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Arduino (Cornwall, N.Y.) to Stephan Davis (Selden, N.Y.) with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter. AIC capitalized on a Michael Million (Montclair, N.J.) fumble on the LIU Post (5-3, 5-2 NE-10) 22-yard line. Three plays later, Arduino hooked up with Davis for seven points.

In the second quarter, the Pioneers managed to close the gap to 7-3. Yet, American International put together another quick three-play, touchdown-scoring possession to bring an 11-point cushion (14-3) into halftime. This time, Arduino connected with Maurice Easterling (Yonkers, N.Y.) on a 69-yard pass at the one-minute mark.

During the latter half, the green and gold, on their third offensive possession of the third quarter, again cut the deficit to four points (14-10). Red-shirt senior quarterback Steven Laurino (Boise, Idaho) staged an eight-play, 34-yard drive that resulted in a five-yard keeper into the end zone.

It was all decided though in the fourth quarter. After AIC, which missed the extra-point attempt, scored on its first drive of the stanza, LIU Post put up 14 unanswered points to grab its first lead of the contest at 24-20. Laurino first tossed a 23-yard touchdown strike to red-shirt sophomore wide receiver Shane Hubbard (St. Albans, N.Y.) with 5:35 left. That made it a 20-17 game.

On the Yellow Jackets' next series, Arduino drove his team into Pioneer territory, but red-shirt senior linebacker Anthony Brunetti (Bayville, N.Y.) picked him off at the LIU 32-yard line, and subsequently returned the interception to the AIC 31. On the ensuing play following the pick, LIU Post ran an end-around to James Higgins (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.). Higgins then heaved a 37-yard pass to a wide-open Laurino for the go-ahead TD.

However, the visitors responded in a big way. Arduino, despite being sacked for a loss of nine yards on the first snap of the series, led his team down to the Pioneer four-yard line. Shortly thereafter, on a fourth-and-one from inside the one-yard line, Arduino got a push over the goal line to put the Yellow Jackets back in front.

LIU Post wasn't done yet. Starting at its own 35-yard line, Laurino completed three straight passes in succession to set the Pioneers up in field-goal range. Needing a conversion to tie and send the game into overtime, senior kicker Karsten Viste (Randaberg, Norway) missed a 41-yard try as time expired.

Laurino finished the game 32-of-51 passing for 353 yards and a touchdown. Hubbard hauled in nine balls for a team-leading 123 yards and a touchdown. Junior tight end Sean Binckes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made seven catches for 75 yards.

Defensively, Brunetti paced the green and gold with eight tackles. Red-shirt junior linebacker Brandon Cheney (Hewlett, N.Y.) added seven tackles and a quarterback hurry. Junior defensive back Jhaleel Oswald (Rosedale, N.Y.) had six tackles.

Head Coach Bryan Collins and the Pioneers return to action next Saturday (Nov. 1), when they travel up to New Haven, Conn. for a noon matinee at NE-10 rival Southern Connecticut State.