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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The 11th-ranked Captains put on a scoring clinic in the first half of Thursday night's Capital Athletic Conference action versus St. Mary's College of Maryland (7-7-0, 3-1-0), powering past the Seahawks, 5-2. Christopher Newport (12-1-3, 3-0-2) scored five first-half goals, showcasing one of the nation's top offenses while running their unbeaten streak to 11 games. 

Coming into the mid-week action against St. Mary's, CNU ranked 10th nationally in points per game and improved that average with a 14-point performance on Thursday night. Rookie Henry Gotay scored a pair of goals, while sophomore Harry Nodwell chipped in a goal and an assist to lead the way for the impressive offensive showing. 

Nodwell got things started with the first goal of the match in the 18th minute of action. Sophomore midfielder Preston Key turned on his defender on the right side of the field and shuffled a pass to the middle for the center mid. Nodwell's shot went into the right side past St. Mary's goalkeeper Zack Haussler. 

After the first round of substitutions from head coach Steve Shaw, the Captains really got rolling. In the 27th minute, rookie midfielder Andrew Gogolin made a play past his defender toward the goal line down the left side and crossed a perfect pass over the goal mouth. Mark Brewington came racing through and hammered a one-timer into the back of the net for the Captains' second goal. 

In the final 15 minutes of the first half, CNU would cash in on three more goals, the first of which would prove pivotal. Nodwell added to his strong performance when he set up the eventual game-winning goal in the 32nd minute. The Captains' leading scorer, senior Jalon Brown, set a new career-high for goals in a season when he took the pass from Nodwell and crushed a shot off the crossbar that deflected into the goal for his 15th goal of the season. He is now tied with Victor Kwantreng's 1982 season for sixth on the single season goals scored chart at CNU. It also tied Winston Mattheisen for second all-time in game-winning goals, with 15, trailing only Michael Caro's 20 winners. 

With a 3-0 lead, Christopher Newport turned to rookie forward Henry Gotay to round out the stellar scoring performance in the first half. First, a ball played into the box from Patrick Burns was taken away by a Seahawks defender, but when the player tried to clear the ball out of the box, Gotay stepped in front of the defender and the ricochet found the back of the net for his third goal this season.

The freshman then added one of the most sensational goals of the season just five minutes later when fellow rookie Girma Baker set him up for the Captains fifth and final tally. Baker raced down the right side and delivered a low cross into the box past Haussler, where Gotay converted a diving header into the left side. The score put the Captains up, 5-0, headed into halftime, as the CNU defense did not surrender a shot in the opening frame, dominating with a 20-0 edge in attempts. 

In the second half, the Captains allowed just three total shots, but St. Mary's (Md.) converted on a pair of them. Nick Tait scored his fourth goal of the season after a long diagonal run toward the left side of the box. His shot never got off the ground, but was placed perfectly into the right side of the goal past CNU goalkeeper Sam Lesko. Then, in the 76th minute, Davis Holland saved the ball off the goal line and found Rickie Kalama just outside the box in the center of the field. Kalama's shot found the top right corner of the goal, cutting the CNU lead to three. 

Despite the second-half surge by the Seahawks, Christopher Newport held on for the remainder, capturing a 5-2 win in league play. CNU held a 32-3 advantage in overall shots, including a 12-3 edge in shots on-goal. 

CNU returns to action in two days, hosting the University of Mary Washington at 7:00 pm on Saturday, October 18.