BOX SCORE

BROOKLINE, MASS. -- Alex Broomfield caught a two-point conversion pass in OT to give Northeastern University a 36-35 victory over No. 7 New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon at Parsons Field.

UNH (5-2, 2-2) took the football first in the overtime period and scored on an 11 yard TD pass from junior quarterback Ricky Santos (Bellingham, Mass.) to sophomore running back Mike Boyle (Plymouth, N.H.) The PAT was good by sophomore kicker Tom Bishop and UNH led 35-28.

Northeastern (3-4, 2-2) took over and had fourth and five on the 20 yd line. Senior TE Kendrick Ballantyne caught a 20 yd TD pass from John Sperrazza and NU decided to go for two points and earned the win on the two-point conversion to Broomfield.

The game looked lost for UNH as the home team took a 28-21 lead on a run by Broomfield, 38 yards for paydirt,  but UNH drove 57 yards in 52 seconds and capped off the drive with a 23 yard pass from Santos to senior wide receiver David Ball (Orange, Vt.) with one second left on the clock in regulation. The PAT by redshirt freshman Tom Manning (Rome, N.Y.) tied the game 28. That was the third of the day between the Walter Payton candidates.

Northeastern scored three TDs in the fourth quarter, while UNH had two. The first for the Wildcats was a 1 yard run by Santos with 2:47 to play and the second was the final score of regulation with one second to play.

UNH broke a long scoring dought with a 24 yard TD pass from Santos to Ball that gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. The drive covered 50 yards in six plays and only took 53 seconds off the clock

The Huskies tied the game again at 10:37 of the fourth quarter on a 1 yard run by running back Maurice Murray after a Santos pass was intercepted at the UNH 18 yard line and the score was tied 14-14.

The Wildcats drew first blood in the contest when Santos engineered a 12-play 80 yard drive that ended with a 5 yard TD pass to Ball.  It was the 52^nd TD of Ball’s career and he tied the mark of 26 different games with a TD catch by NFL legend Jerry Rice. The actual record is 29 held by Eastern Washington’s Eric Kimble.

NU scored with just 52 seconds remaining before the half on a 20 yd TD reception by Kendrick makeshift defense due to various injuries did a good job for most of the half, but Ballantyne from Broomfield  to tie the score at 7-7 heading into the intermission.

Santos completed 41 of 66 passes for 434 yards and four TDs. Boyle led all receivers with 14 receptions for 178 yards and had one TD. Ball made 11 catches for 147 yards and had three TD catches.

UNH’s defense, which was decimated by injuries prior to the game, was led by senior free safety Terrell Lewis, who had nine solo tackles and he also forced a fumble.

The Wildcats will return to action at home this coming Saturday (Oct. 28) when they entertain Hofstra University. Game time is 12 p.m. at Cowell Stadium and tickets are available online at www.unhwildcats.com.