A fast start and a strong finish weren't enough to help St. Ambrose in its upset bid at No. 10 Saint Xavier Saturday.

The Bees allowed 34 consecutive points to the Cougars in a 41-28 loss in Chicago.

Despite allowing an early touchdown, SAU got off to a great start, taking a 21-7 lead in the first quarter. Jake Romani engineered an eight-play, 80-yard drive and capped the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Chase Ferger to tie the game at 7-7 midway through the first period.

Then the defense made its mark.

First Dillon Valdez forced a fumble that the Bees recovered at the SXU 36-yard line. Five plays later, Jake Osterberger scored on a nine-yard run to put SAU in front 14-7.

Less than a minute later, Valdez intercepted a pass and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

Unfortunately, the Bees would not score again for nearly the next 47 minutes of game time. And the Cougars (6-1, 2-0 MSFA) took advantage.

Two long touchdown passes - one 46 yards, the other 63 yards - pulled SXU to within a point at 21-20 midway through the second quarter. A St. Ambrose fumble gave the Cougars a short field to work with and they took the lead on a two-yard touchdown run. Later in the second, a 59-yard interception return for a score put Saint Xavier in front 34-21 at the half.

A long punt return in the opening minutes of the third quarter led to another Cougar touchdown to put the margin at 41-21.

St. Ambrose, which was stopped on a 4th-and-1 play from the SXU 28-yard line in the second quarter, pieced together an 18-play drive and faced a 4th-and-goal from the SXU 6-yard line, but Matt Coovert was ruled out of bounds when he came down with a Romani pass in the end zone, giving the ball back to Saint Xavier.

SAU got back on the board with 2:21 left on Tanner Champley's 29-yard TD reception. Trailing 41-28, the Bees recovered the ensuing on-side kick and moved to the Cougar 3-yard line inside the final minute. But Romani was sacked and his fourth-down throw to Champley fell incomplete ending any comeback hopes.

The St. Ambrose defense limited Saint Xavier to 330 yards of total offense, including just 15 yards on 25 attempts on the ground.

Deontae Curry came up with a team-leading 14 tackles, including three tackles for loss and two sacks, in his varsity debut. Chris Overton also added a sack. Greg Burnett was in on six tackles.

Osterberger rushed for 109 yards and Baylee Hopps added 47. Romani completed 19 passes for 246 yards and the two touchdowns. Champley caught seven passes for 95 yards. Ferger and Coovert each hauled in three passes.

The Bees will play at home for the final time this season next Saturday against Robert Morris. The Senior Day game will kickoff at 1 p.m. at Brady Street Stadium.