Box Score

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team scored seven goals in the second half, but the late rally was not enough as CNU dropped a 15-10 decision to No. 12 York during a Capital Athletic Conference clash at Captains Turf Field on a waterlogged Saturday afternoon.

During the contest, freshman Meaghan Galvin came through with five points, including four goals, to lead the offensive effort. Ashton Marshall and Kylie Chaplin also scored twice for the Captains, while Emily Johnson anchored the defense with four caused turnovers and six ground balls.

Despite those efforts, Christopher Newport could not pull out the victory as the squad fell to 9-7 on the season, including 3-4 in the CAC. The Captains will enter the conference playoffs as the No. 5 seed and will travel to St. Mary's for a first-round bout on Tuesday.

With the victory, York improves to 13-3 with a 6-1 record in league action. The Spartans will enter the postseason as the league's No. 2 seed.

At the start of the game, the Captains burst out of the gate quickly and grabbed an early advantage. Although the Spartans were able to strike first, CNU battled back with three straight tallies. On Senior Day, Marshall fittingly got the scoring started with a bullet off a feed from Jessica Singer at the 25-minute mark. After that, Galvin took over as the first-year phenom drove home two straight goals, including a dart off a gorgeous assist by Erin Callahan to push the lead to 3-1.

Unfortunately, the two-goal advantage evaporated quickly. York's Erica Mulford scored four of the next six goals, while Sarah Castle added two to help the Spartans grab a 7-3 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. Although the defense regained its footing as Johnson forced a pair of turnovers and Hanna Slough made two saves during a 30-second surge, the Spartans eventually broke through two more times to enter halftime with a 9-3 edge.

Following the break, the visitors continued to strike and secured an 11-3 advantage just two minutes into the new stanza. Although Singer broke the streak after wrapping a rocket around the far post following a caused turnover, York responded with two more goals to push the lead to nine at 13-4.

With their backs planted firmly against the wall, the Captains showed impressive resolve down the stretch. At the 19-minute mark, Galvin completed her hat-trick off an assist by Marshall to give the squad a little momentum. Later, following two saves by Slough, including a great stop off a free-position attempt, the hosts tacked on a pair of rapid-fire goals.

With 11 minutes left, Chaplin beat a defender at the top of the arc and scored her first goal of the game. Less than a minute later, Galvin made a perfect cut-back move at the top of the zone to spin a defender and gain some space. With a clean look, she deposited a dart inside the far post for the squad's seventh goal.

After watching their lead whittled down to six at 13-7, the Spartans answered with two straight scores to put the game out-of-reach. Staring at an eight-goal deficit, the Captains continued to fight and converted three straight goals over the final two minutes, including tracers by Marshall and Chaplin and a free-position strike by Callahan. Unfortunately, time simply ran out on their comeback bid as the hosts dropped the 15-10 decision.

Overall, Christopher Newport out-shot the Spartans, 28-27, and secured 16 of the game's 27 draws. However, York held a slim 20-19 edge in ground balls and forced 11 turnovers to pull out the victory.

---CNU---