BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — Jake Chapla picked a good day to break Slippery Rock University's career field goal record.

The Rock defense made timely plays all day as SRU held off LIU Post, 20-14, Saturday at Bethpage Stadium to secure the program's first-ever NCAA Division II football playoff road victory.

SRU (10-2) will travel to New Haven (Conn.) Saturday for a second-round game. New Haven upset No. 9 and previously unbeaten West Chester 35-28 Saturday as all three road teams in Super Region One won in the first round of postseason play.

“I have to give credit to our defense,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “They were put in tough situations all day and kept them out of the end zone.”

LIU Post (10-1) entered the game as the No. 2 seed in Super Region One and riding a 15-game winning streak, the longest active streak in all of Division II. The Pioneers had lost only three home games in the past four years.

LIU Post had allowed no more than 13 points in any of its final five regular season games.

“We knew what kind of defense we were going up against and that we were going to have to play excellent defense ourselves,” Lutz said.

Twice, The Riock stiffened inside its own 10-yard line, forcing the Pioneers to settle for 25-yard Joey Togyesi field goals. Tyree Spearman and Dalton Holt came up with interceptions inside the 10 to thwart other LIU Post opportunities.

“We weren't happy with the way we played last week (33-10 PSAC title loss to West Chester),” SRU middle linebacker and Butler graduate Tim Vernick said. “We knew what we needed to do today.

“We just got after people, hit people all day. We wanted to be aggressive and it worked out.”

Vernick and fellow linebacker Brad Zaffram had eight tackles each to lead The Rock. Vernick added two tackles for loss and a quarterback sack.

“Stopping the run was big today,” Zaffram said. “It feels good, getting this win. Doing something for the first time in school history is awesome.”

The Pioneers were limited to 10 yards rushing. SRU ran for 192 yards, including 33 carries and 167 yards by running back Wes Hills.

Hills broke loose for a 41-yard scoring run in the second quarter that gave SRU a 17-3 lead. LIU Post entered the game ranked 10th in the nation against the run, allowing just 93 yards per game.

“Our offensive line had a great game,” Hills said. “I don't get anything without those guys.

“We want to continue making history, continue to show we belong in these playoffs.”

Jermaine Wynn Jr. had eight catches for 155 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown on the game's first offensive play. Wynn caught a screen pass from Roland Rivers III and broke loose for the score.

Chapla had field goals of 25 and 41 yards, the latter coming against the wind with 8:01 remaining to give The Rock a six-point lead.

“That was a huge kick because it forced (LIU Post) to go for a touchdown late in the game, when they faced a fourth down in our end of the field,” Lutz said.

Chapla, only a junior, has 37 career field goals at The Rock, breaking the previous record of 35. He also has 15 field goals this year, a single-season record at SRU.

Pioneer quarterback Chris Laviano — a transfer from Rutgers — completed 29 of 61 passes for 333 yards and a touchdown.

“That guy made some incredible passes,” Lutz said. “But they couldn't run the ball. We made them one-dimensional.”

“This is unreal,” Vernick said of Saturday's win. “We had great fan supporrt here. A lot of people made the trip and it felt good to win for them.

“Now we have to keep it going.”

SRU was 0-6 in road playoff games before Saturday's win.

Slippery Rock 7 10 0 3 — 20

LIU Post 3 3 0 8 — 14

First Quarter

SRU — Jermaine Wynn Jr. 75 pass from Roland Rivers III (Jake Chapla kick), 14:49

LP — Joey Tolgyesi 22 field goal, 6:30

Second Quarter

SRU — Chapla 25 field goal, 10:28

SRU — Wes Hills 41 run (Chapla kick), 7:58

LP — Tolgyesi 25 field goal, :04

Fourth Quarter

LP — Jake Bofshever 2 pass from Chris Laviano (Bofshever pass from Laviano), 11:58

SRU — Chapla 41 field goal, 8:01

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Wes Hills 33-167, Roland Rivers III 10-348, TEAM 4-(-23). LIU post, Malik Pierre 18-28, Chris Laviano 4-(-18).

Passing: SRU, Roland Rivers III 12-21-163-2. LIU Post, Chris Laviano 29-61-333-2.

Receiving: SRU, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 8-155, Wes Hills 3-5, Zach Cirillo 1-3. LIU Post, Max Richardson 10-150, Jake Bofshever 6-83, Deon Mash 4-40, Derick Eugene 1-33, Michael Hartgrove 2-17, Matt Zelaya 1-7, Malik Pierre 1-2, Jonathan DeBique 2-2, Michael Canpbell 2-(-1).