LYNCHBURG, Va. -- After earning an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team will take on Stevenson University (10-5-5) in the opening round of the 2014 Championship Tournament. The Captains (12-3-4) will take on the Mustangs in a neutral field battle on the campus of top-ranked Lynchburg College at 7:30 pm. The game is the second of a two-game first-round pod hosted by the Hornets, who will face Salem College at 5:00 pm.
CNU's at-large berth comes after a heart-breaking shootout loss in the CAC Semifinals, but the overall body of work was strong enough for the Captains to get into the tournament. Featuring CAC Player of the Year
Victoria Perry and Rookie of the Year
Kira Warner, the Captains have a balanced team from front to back. Perry leads a strong offense with 14 goals and seven assists for 35 points, helping the team average 2.26 goals per game. Senior midfielder
Joy Piirto has helped ignite the offense, scoring a career-high 17 points on seven goals and three assists.
Defensively, CNU features back-to-back CAC Rookies of the Year, leading a stingy back line to a 0.75 goals against average. Sophomore goalkeeper
Haley Casanova, named a first-team All-Conference selection, has limited opponents to just nine goals in over 1200 minutes of action for a GAA of 0.67 with four solo shutouts.
Stevenson matches up against the Captains after capturing the Commonwealth Conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth in dramatic fashion over Messiah College, who was the #1 team in the nation at the time. The Mustangs picked up a pair of draws against Messiah this season, factoring in as the only team to not suffer a loss to the Falcons. Stevenson is led by rookie goalkeeper Tiffany McKee, whose helped guide the Mustangs to a ten-game unbeaten streak heading into Saturday night's contest.
Offensively, Stevenson has been led by fellow rookie Kellen Wittman, scoring 22 points on nine goals and four assists. Four more Mustangs are in double figures this season, including first team All-Conference midfielder Allie Ondrejcak.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available of the night's contest, with links available at the women's soccer schedule on CNUsports.com. The winner will advance to play the winner between Lynchburg and Salem on Sunday at 5:00 pm in the NCAA Second Round.
