FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Does the season really have to end?

The LIU football team closed head coach Ron Cooper's first season at the helm with a fourth straight victory, beating host Sacred Heart, 37-34, on Saturday at Campus Field.

True freshman quarterback Luca Stanzani improved to 4-0 as a starter with the season-ending victory.

The Sharks took a 37-10 lead on Stanzani's 13-yard rushing touchdown with 3 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter. They then held on as Sacred Heart answered with three touchdowns and a field goal to pull within three points.

Carson Binder and Eric O'Neill had sacks on consecutive plays to stymie Sacred Heart's final drive.

Stanzani set the tone on the Sharks' first offensive play of the game, connecting with receiver Michael Love for a 71-yard touchdown pass — the first of Love's three TD receptions on the afternoon.

A pair of huge first-quarter defensive plays halted Sacred Heart drives within yards of the end zone.

Linebacker Qualil Lumpkins recovered a fumble at the LIU 5. Then, later in the quarter, O'Neill stopped Jalen Madison's fourth-and-goal rush from the LIU 1 to turn the ball back to the Sharks' offense.

"The interior guys, they take on all the hard work, and let me go one-on-one and make my plays," O'Neill said. "That's all it is."

Owen Glascoe had a 27-yard TD and Love had a 41-yard TD reception, both in the second quarter from Stanzani, as the Sharks built a 21-7 lead. Glascoe's TD came after Stanzani handed the ball off, then ultimately received a pitch back in order to attempt the pass.

LIU (4-7, 4-3 NEC) had opened the season with seven straight defeats, albeit with a pair of the losses to FBS programs, Toledo and Kent State. The Sharks then hit their stride coinciding with Stanzani's ascension to No. 1 quarterback, rattling off four straight wins to close the season.

Stanzani passed for four touchdowns and ran for another on Saturday. The team averaged 37.5 points per game in his four starts.

LIU finished in third place in the Northeast Conference.

"The test was when we were 0-5, 0-6, 0-7," Cooper said. "But we knew we had some things brewing, The guys never let up. They practiced their tails off. They ddi everything we've asked.

"We played today without a single true tailback. We had a receiver playing tailback the whole game. That tells you about guys stepping up and playing. We had freshmen playing all over the field. So I'm pleased. We're going to make it interesting, but we wouldn't have enjoyed it like this if we didn't make it interesting."