Box Score

YORK, Pa. – The Christopher Newport men's soccer team took a two-goal lead, but seventh-ranked York came storming back and scored a pair of second-half goals before winning on penalty kicks, 3-1, in the semifinals of the Capital Athletic Conference playoffs on Wednesday afternoon at Graham Field.

During the game, Caleb Lewis and Jalon Brown each scored for the Captains, while Sean Killion made four saves. Unfortunately, their upset bid came up just short as York capitalized on a late scoring surge to survive the semifinal scare.

The setback drops CNU to 13-5-2 on the season, while York sits at 16-2-1. The Spartans will now compete for the CAC title on Saturday against the winner of the Frostburg State – Salisbury semifinal match-up.

Following a defensive struggle in the first half, which featured two saves by Killion, Christopher Newport's attack found its legs after halftime. Setting the tone early, the Captains bombarded York with the first three shots of the period, but two trickled wide before the third was stopped by the Spartans' Brad Schmidt. Refusing to back down, CNU continued to strike and eventually broke through.

In the 51st minute, Lewis deposited a blast just inside the left post to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Looking for some breathing room, Tommy O'Neal ripped a shot that just missed wide before Brown connected nine minutes later. Following at outlet pass by Charlie Dodge, CNU's junior forward secured the feed and unloaded a dart that landed inside the right post for a two-goal edge.

With time ticking down, York responded. Although Killion stoned another shot and the defense cleaned up a few other scoring opportunities, the Spartans eventually struck despite being a man down. In the 72nd minute, Brendan Saberton converted a header following a cross by Chris Weaver. Less than 40 seconds later, Peter Lungaard found an opening to knot the score at two.

Back on even ground, the Captain defense had to withstand a few more attempts by the Spartans at the end of regulation. Killion made one final save at 73:56 before Schmidt stoned CNU's final on-target shot in the waning moments to send the game to overtime.

In the first bonus session, Christopher Newport set the pace and roped four of the five shots, but all went wide, including a bullet by Lewis that just caught the outside netting. The Captain defense also did its job, sealing off York's first shot before Killion shut down a clean run by York's Taylor Brummitt to send the game into a second overtime period.

Once again, the Captains came out hot and pumped four shots, but the Spartans withstood the surge. Lewis had a pair of solid chances during the final minutes, but his first screamer sailed over the bar before his second was stymied after a sprawling save by Schmidt.

Following 110 minutes of action, the two squads lined up for penalty kicks to decide the outcome. York converted its first two attempts, while Lewis connected on CNU's second to pull the visitors back within one. Unfortunately, the Captains could not capitalize on the Spartans' first miss as Christopher Newport's final two tries were stopped by Schmidt to seal the victory for YCP.

Overall, Christopher Newport held a 22-19 edge in shots and an 11-3 lead in corner kicks. Schmidt finished with five saves for York and added three more stops in PKs, while Killion collected four for the Captains.

---CNU---