Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Lindsay Hendricks opened the scoring with a goal just five minutes into the game and added another one to cap off a late second-half surge that lifted the seventh-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team to its 11th straight victory as the Captains raced past Eastern Mennonite, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon.

In addition to Hendricks' sensational day, CNU also benefitted from an excellent game by Caitlin Cahill, who added a goal and an assist. Breanne Lowe also scored and chipped in with a defensive save, while Shelby Judkins and Taylor Young rounded out the offensive attack with crucial second-half goals.

The victory moved the Captains to 13-1 on the season and gave head coach Carrie Moura a nice birthday present. The setback dropped Eastern Mennonite to 4-11.

Looking to set the tone early in the game, the Captains immediately went on the attack. Four minutes into regulation, the squad earned a corner and unloaded a blast, which was kicked aside by EMU's Sam Ferrier. Just 20 seconds later, CNU pieced together another run as Cahill dished to Hendricks, who pounded a rocket through the zone, which found an opening and gave the team a fast 1-0 lead.

With an early advantage, Christopher Newport traded blows with Eastern Mennonite as each team uncorked a pair of shots during a six-minute span in the middle of the first half. Despite the surges, both squads came away empty-handed before the Captains finally struck again.

Fourteen minutes into the game, the aggressive CNU attack went barreling back into the Royal zone and earned a stroke following an EMU foul. For the third time this season, Lowe stepped up and took the free shot. Unloading a blast, the senior midfielder converted her second stroke of the year to put the Captains up, 2-0.

Unsatisfied with the two-goal lead, Christopher Newport went right back to work. After Eastern Mennonite had a shot blocked, CNU took control and kept the ball in the EMU zone. During a 10-minute span, the Captains unloaded four shots and earned three corners, but Ferrier kept her wits and locked down against the onslaught.

Later, after Jamie Dowling stoned an EMU shot, Ferrier came through again. After surviving another CNU penalty stroke, the Royal freshman kicked aside two more shots. Unfazed, the Captains never relented. In the waning moments of the first half, Cahill settled into the circle, found some wiggle room, and uncorked a laser into the back of the cage, which gave the squad a 3-0 lead heading into halftime.

Staring at an imposing three-goal deficit, Eastern Mennonite came out fast in the second half. During a 30-second span, the Royals unloaded three straight shots, but one went wide and the other two were batted away by Dowling. Still on the attack, the hosts continued to test the CNU defense, but the squad held strong, highlighted by a crucial defensive save by Lowe.

Despite handling the EMU ambush with flair for the first 17-minutes of the second half, the Captains were eventually stretched a little too thin. At 52:37, Jessica Blanks found a crack in the foundation and snuck a shot into the cage to pull the hosts within two. Three minutes later, Blanks fired a second shot that was deflected just enough by Michelle Zook to find an opening and cut CNU's advantage down to one at 3-2.

With their lead in jeopardy, the Captains called a timeout and regrouped. Refusing to let the Royals get any closer, CNU bombarded the EMU zone with shots from every angle. Although the hosts held tough for a brief period, Judkins eventually lit up the scoreboard with a rocket at 64:11.

Back up by two, Christopher Newport continued to press Eastern Mennonite. After two shots were kicked aside by the Royals, Young found some space and ripped a rocket into the back of the cage at 67:03. Although Zook responded with her second goal of the contest just 14 seconds later, Hendricks came back to ice the game.

At 67:38, the senior standout settled into the EMU zone and uncorked another one-timer that blew right through the Royal defense and sealed the team's three-goal victory, 6-3.

During the bout, CNU held a 23-13 lead in shots and a 14-8 edge in corners. The EMU keepers were busy all day as Ferrier finished with eight saves, while Mary Beth Danaher had four during her 19 minutes in the cage. Dowling had three for the Captains.

Christopher Newport will return to action tomorrow when the squad heads to Lexington for a 2:30 p.m. match-up with Washington & Lee.

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