Box Score BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Brendan Short and
Joe O'Connor both posted three goals, while 11 other Captains notched one as the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team used a well-balanced effort to storm past Southern Virginia, 17-4, on Wednesday evening at the SVU Fields.
During the contest, Short and O'Connor both notched their first-career hat-tricks, while
Patrick Fleming added a goal and two assists.
Tully Wise also chipped in with a pair of helpers and
Ryan Mills notched two points to help balance out a well-rounded attack.
On the defensive end, the Captains forced 16 turnovers during the game, including two apiece by
Adam Abbate and
Harrison Drier. Anchoring the team between the pipes,
Matt Hayden earned his 10th victory of the season, while
Ryan Long,
Nick Wright, and
Mark Hargrove all saw time as well. Together, the foursome limited the Knights to just four goals while combining to make five saves.
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 10-4 on the season and snaps its two-game skid. The setback drops Southern Virginia to 0-15.
From the start, CNU set the tempo and pulled out to an imposing 6-1 lead in the first quarter. With
Nick Kirschke and
Nick Mandros dominating on faceoffs, the Captains controlled possession and ran away from the Knights.
Brooks Billings got things rolling with a dart off an assist by
Billy Crist at the 11-minute mark. Later, after an impressive defensive stand, which included forced turnovers by
Teddy Pekalski, Abbate, and
Steven West, the floodgates opened.
Mills and Short blistered back-to-back goals during a two-minute stretch. Following Southern Virginia's first tally,
John Keohane,
Joey Rolando, and
Garrison Ernst landed three straight blows over the final 90 seconds of the quarter to secure a 6-1 edge.
Already leading by five,
Connor Tapscott pushed the edge to six early in the second period with a rocket after scooping up a loose ball. Although the Knights responded with their first goal of the quarter, the Captains were unfazed and continued to pick apart the SVU defense.
Jack Harris got things going again off an assist by
Kyle Reavis before Short drove home a dagger with six minutes remaining in the half to push the lead to 9-2.
Once again, the Knights broke CNU's streak with their third goal, but O'Connor ended the half with a spectacular run. The freshman drilled home his first career score off a pass from Mills with four minutes remaining. Later, after the Captains thwarted a nice offensive stand by Southern Virginia, O'Connor found the back of the net again off a pass from Abbate to give the squad an 11-3 advantage entering halftime.
With an eight-goal lead at the break, Christopher Newport pulled back the reins a bit and eased into the victory. Early in the third,
Trevor Royce forced a turnover before
Aaron Chrzaszcz connected on a man-up goal at 11:32. Later, after the defense forced two more turnovers, including a tough blow by Drier,
Matt Shaw pushed the lead to 13-3 off an assist by Fleming to cap off the third quarter.
With the victory all but locked up, the Captains tacked on four more goals in the fourth to ice the victory. Four minutes into the final stanza, Short capped off his hat-trick with a bullet to give the squad an 11-goal edge. Three minutes later, Fleming added another goal with a screaming one-timer to push the squad's advantage to 12 at 15-3.
Following Southern Virginia's last tally, O'Connor topped off his first career three-goal performance with an assist by Fleming before
Dave Magdeburger added the final nail with three minutes left to seal the 17-4 triumph.
Overall, the Captains held a commanding 48-28 advantage in shots and a 50-25 lead in ground balls. The squad also won 18 of the game's 25 faceoffs, including a 10-for-14 performance by Kirschke.
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts York in the regular season finale. Prior to the game, the Captains will hold their Senior Day festivities.
---CNU---
