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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With a goal in each half, the 13th-ranked Christopher Newport University men's soccer team got past Randolph College (5-3-3) on Sunday evening, 2-1. Junior Mark Brewington scored the game-winning goal in the 67th minute on his first tally of the season, and sophomore Patrick Burns posted a goal and assist in the game.

The win improved the nationally-ranked Captains to 10-1-2 overall this season. It marks the 19th straight year the CNU men's soccer team reached double figures in the win column, all coming under head coach Steve Shaw. Shaw has run his career record at CNU to 260-92-25 for a winning percentage of 72.3%, among the best in the nation.

On Sunday, the Captains were taking on the WildCats in a make-up game after the originally scheduled matchup was rained out earlier this season. The non-conference finale lived up to the wait, as the evenly-matched teams battled from the opening whistle. 

The early chances favored the road team, as Randolph pressured the Captains defense with junior Sam Lesko in goal. In the seventh minute, Sam Griffith had a clean header off of a corner kick, but the shot went just wide. Then, in the 18th minute, Lesko made a save on a hard shot from just outside the box off the foot of Troy Jurney. 

After withstanding the early surge by Randolph, the CNU offense settled in and started to mount opportunities of their own. After nearly getting on the board in the 35th minute when senior defender Stephen Landry's header went just high, the Captains cashed in on the first goal of the match just minutes later. 

On a transition after another save by Lesko, junioir Garrett Van Nutt received a pass up the left side of the field. He got behind the defense and turned toward the goal before making a pass to the near post. His pass glanced off a defender, right to the feet of Burns who was not denied from inside the six-yard box. The goal was his seventh of the season.

Early in the second half, the score would draw even as Randolph score on a corner kick. Brian Anderson headed in a shot off of Blake Heatherly's corner. It was the third straight attempt by the WildCats as Lesko made a diving save on Kyle Unruh's hard shot to the right side of the goal, setting up a pair of corner kicks by Randolph. 

With the score evened at one, the Captains offense again took control in the middle portion of the half. Brewington checked into the match in the 61st minute and wasted little time picking up his first goal of the season. On one of the nicest combination pass plays of the game, the Captains got the eventual game-winning goal in the 67th minute.

Senior Jalon Brown started the play, skipping a pass across the box to Burns, who one-touched it back across the middle to Brewington, streaking down the right side without a defender. With a one-on-one opportunity, Brewington did not waste any touches, blasting a hard shot into the left side of the goal. 

The score gave CNU a 2-1 lead, as the Captains became just the second team to score multiple goals against the WildCats stingy defense this season. With Burns' assist, the sophomore forward has now factored into six of the last seven CNU scores, including four straight. Brown's helper moved him into a tie for second in all-time scoring at CNU, registering his 113th point to tie Oscar Gomez-Romero. 

CNU nearly added an insurance goal twice, as Harry Nodwell blistered a hard shot from inside the box in the 69th minute, and Van Nutt added a strong liner in the 80th minute, but both were stopped by Randolph keeper C.J. Stevens. A third chance saw Brown get loose one-on-one with the keeper, but the senior forward was called offsides before the shot. 

The Captains held a slight 13-10 advantage in shots, with an 8-5 edge in shots on-goal. 

CNU will be back in action on Tuesday, October 7 as they take on Southern Virginia University in Capital Athletic Conference action. The game will kick off approximately at 7:30 pm, immediately following the women's matchup.