ITHACA, NY -- The Union College defense held Ithaca College to 179 yards and the fewest points in the series since 1999 in the season opening 14-9 loss at Ithaca Saturday at Butterfield Stadium. The game marked the first for Union's new head coach, Jeff Behrman.

Jermaine Carn had 28 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown for the Dutchmen. Nick Cascione was 13 for 27 for 170 yards with one interception and Alex Kaplanovich had 59 yards on three receptions. Hunter Ordukhanyan had 10 tackles and Jason Nelson added eight while Brian Alebiosu had an interception for the Dutchmen.

Wolfgang Shafer was 10 for 23 for two interceptions and 124 yards with a TD for the Bombers (1-0). Tristan Brown had 35 yards rushing on 12 carries and JR Zazzara had 40 yards on one reception. Kenny Bradley made a game high 13 tackles including 10 assists and Dan Loizos made 11 stops.

Union had 266 total yards and had the ball for 33:08.

The Bombers opened the scoring with 4:54 remaining in the first quarter. The drive featured a 40 yard pass from Shafer to Zazzara to bring it to the Union 1. Union stopped Ithaca on two plays before a fall start on the Bombers put the ball back to the six. On that third down play, Shafer hit LaFrance who dove in to the left corner of the endzone and the PAT made it 7-0, Ithaca. It was a six play, 53 yard drive that took 3:12.

On a second and eight from the Union 38, Brian Alebiosu intercepted an Ithaca pass and returned it 21 yards to stop a Bomber drive. It was the first career interception for the captain. The first half ended with a 7-0 Ithaca lead. The defensive performances were solid for both squads, as Union held Ithaca to 50 yards rushing while the Dutchmen had 73 total yards in offense at the half.

The Dutchmen got on the board with 4:10 left in the third quarter. Zach Pyser hit a 19 yard field goal, his first career field goal, to cap an impressive 12 play, 51 yard drive to make it a 7-3 game. Carn had 22 yards on the ground in that drive. Union was on offense for 11:12 of the 15 minutes in the third quarter.

Ithaca made it 14-3 on a key turnover, as Pat Minogue forced a Union fumble and Jordan Schemm recovered and took it 54 yards for the touchdown just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter. Union came back with an eight play, 50 yard drive in 3:45 that made it 14-9 with a Carn one yard run. The two point attempt failed and the Dutchmen were within five with 10:57 to play in the fourth quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 44 yard strike from Cascione to Kaplanovich to get the ball to the Ithaca 3, setting up Carn's three straight one yard runs including the scoring rush.

After a stop, Union drove down in nine plays to the Ithaca 19, but a 36 yard field goal attempt was wide right and it remained 14-9 with 5:26 remaining. Union had a final chance with a first down at the Dutchmen 18 with 55 seconds left, but on the third play Minogue intercepted a pass at the Ithaca 48 and returned it 17 yards to the Union 35 with 20 seconds remaining.

Union opens the home season at Frank Bailey Field next Saturday, September 17. The Dutchmen will host Western Connecticut State at 4:00 p.m. in a non-league contest.