ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Despite being held to a season-low 217 yards of offense, the Union College football gutted out a 14-10 victory over the University of Rochester on Saturday afternoon at Edwin Fauver Stadium to remain unbeaten in Liberty League play and earn the program's 600th all-time victory.
 
Union (7-2, 6-0 Liberty League) keeps control of its postseason fate with the win, which clinches at least a share of the program's ninth Liberty League championship. The Garnet Chargers will not come out on top of a three-way tiebreaker, and so Union's only shot of making its 14th NCAA Tournament is with a win next Saturday against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the annual Dutchman Shoes game.

The win is the 600th in Union's illustrious football history, moving the team to 600-513-64 (.537) since the inception of the program in 1886.
 
The Union defense was the star of Saturday, forcing a fumble and intercepting three Rochester passes, including picks on Rochester's final two possessions of the game. Senior Matt Mitchell tied for the team lead with seven tackles and had a key interception inside the five-yard line with the Yellow Jackets driving for a potential go-ahead score in the final minutes. Senior Ryan Grenier also had seven tackles and a forced fumble, while junior Jordan Black and sophomore John Droggitis added key interceptions for the visitors.
 
Senior Patch Flanagan completed 9-of-18 passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns while running for a team-best 56 yards. Classmate Dan Quinn caught both of his passes for touchdowns to provide the offense for the Garnet Chargers.
 
After punts for both teams on their opening drives, Union moved inside the UR 30-yard line before a Flanagan fumble stalled the drive. The Union defense returned the favor early in the second quarter, as Grenier knocked the ball from Jackson Kane after a long reception and junior Alex Carucci was there to pick up the ball for the visitors. Carucci also made a big play on Rochester's next drive, tackling Aidan Papantonis short of the sticks on fourth-and-five to get the ball back again.
 
The defense led to offense for Union's first points of the game, when Droggitis picked off a Shawn Bellenger pass and ran 59 yards to the Rochester six-yard line. Flanagan and Quinn connected on a six-yard touchdown pass on the first play to put Union up 7-0 with 3:14 left in the second quarter after an extra point by sophomore Francesco Pileggi.
 
Another giveaway short-circuited Union's first drive of the third quarter, giving Rochester a short field that resulted in a 25-yard field goal for the Yellow Jackets' first points of the day. However, Union responded with its best drive of the afternoon, a 12-play, 73-yard march that put the team up 14-3. The drive featured 10 runs and two passes, with the longest play a 16-yard scamper by first-year Kaden Gore. A 15-yard pass to senior Gil Rivera set up the visitors in the red zone, and Quinn caught another 15-yarder in the end zone for the score.
 
Rochester made it a one-score game on a Bellenger five-yard touchdown run with 7:55 left in the fourth, and the home team took over again at its own 33-yard line with 3:39 remaining. The Yellow Jackets made it inside the 10-yard line and had first and goal from the eight coming out of the two-minute timeout, but Mitchell picked off a Bellenger pass at the one-yard line to quell the threat.
 
The Garnet Chargers were unable to run out the clock on offense, but Black provided a fitting end to the game by intercepting Bellenger inside the 40-yard line to close out the win.
 
Union will battle for an NCAA Tournament berth and the coveted Dutchman Shoes trophy next Saturday, when the Garnet Chargers battle with the Engineers at 1 p.m. at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium,