Dec. 2, 2006

AMHERST, MA - Senior Steve Baylark rushed for 198 yards and a touchdown and linebacker Jason Hatchel broke up Ricky Santos' fourth down pass at the Massachusetts six yard line with 33 seconds remaining to preserve the Minutemen's 24-17 win over New Hampshire on Sat. afternoon.

The Minutemen (12-1) advanced to the semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Division I Football Championship and will take on second-seeded Montana (12-1) on Friday, December 8, at 7:30pm EST in Missoula, MT. The game will be aired live on ESPN2.

Baylark had a career-best 60-yard run on Massachusetts' opening possession of the game and capped off the drive with a one-yard scoring plunge, the 40th rushing touchdown of his career. New Hampshire needed just one offensive play, an 87-yard run by freshman running back Chad Kackert, to tie the score at 7-7 at the 11:51 mark of the opening quarter.

A six-yard scoring pass by sophomore quarterback Liam Coen to sophomore tight end Ian Jorgensen gave UMass a 14-7 advantage with 8:56 remaining in the first half. Following an interception by junior safety Jeff Pammer at the Massachusetts' 39 yard line, New Hampshire tied the score at 14-14 on an 11-yard pass from Santos to junior wideout Keith LeVan. UNH went to the locker room with a 17-14 advantage on a 41-yard field goal by Tom Manning as time expired.

Junior J.J. Moore's 13-yard punt return gave UMass possession at the New Hampshire 39 yard line at the 7:31 mark of the third quarter. Following a 16-yard completion from Coen to Moore, Coen hit Brandon London over the middle for 31 yards and a touchdown, the 14th of London's career, to give the Minutemen a 21-17 advantage. Massachusetts extended its lead to 24-17 on junior Chris Koepplin's 33-yard field goal in swirling winds.

After a Christian Koegel's 19-yard punt was downed at the New Hampshire 13 yard line with 5:51 remaining in the game, the Wildcats drove 81 yards to the UMass six. Faced with fourth down and one and following a Minutemen timeout, Santos rolled left but his pass intended for LeVan was knocked away by Hatchell to seal the Minutemen's first appearance in the semifinals since 1998.

Coen completed 19-of-28 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown, while London had five receptions for 75 yards. Baylark topped the 100-yard rushing mark for a league-leading eighth time this season and 24th of his career, with the Minutemen improving to 20-4 in those contests. Senior linebacker led UMass with 10 tackles and an interception, while defensive end David Burris registered a pair of sacks.

"I thought it was a great testament to Atlantic 10 Football today," said Massachusetts head coach Don Brown.

"This was just a great football game."

Kackert rushed for 105 yards on just seven carries and had 68 yards on three kickoffs to lead New Hampshire (9-4), which was making its league-record third consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals. Pammer paced the Wildcats with 12 stops and added a sack..

"Two great football teams at this level of football playing their tails off," said New Hampshire head Sean McDonnell.

"I'm very proud of my team."

Santos completed 16-of-26 passes for 129 yards and moved past former Villanova standout Chris Boden (1996-99) as the league's career passing leader with 10,240 yards. Playing in the final game of his record-setting career, UNH senior wideout David Ball had a team-high six catches for 54 yards. He ended his career with 304 receptions for 4,655 yards and 58 touchdowns, all school and Conference records.