Box Score

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Trailing by three at halftime, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team regrouped and used another second-half rally to stun Marymount, 9-5, during a Capital Athletic Conference showdown on Saturday afternoon at Long Bridge Park.

Following the same script that has worked several times already this season, the CNU offense exploded in the second half and quickly dropped eight goals on the Saints to seal the comeback victory. Joey Rolando led the charge with three points, including two goals. Adam Abbate also chimed in with a pair of assists, while Randy Foster and Brooks Billings contributed two points apiece.

On the defensive end, Teddy Pekalski forced a pair of turnovers and added five faceoff victories. Brenden Dwyer also finished with two caused turnovers, while Matt Hayden came through with nine saves to earn the victory.

With the win, Christopher Newport improves to 9-2, which sets a new program record for victories in a season. The Captains also stand at 3-1 in CAC play. The setback drops Marymount to 8-4 with a 1-3 mark in conference action.

Trailing 4-1 at halftime, CNU remained confident. After coming back from a deficit against No. 2 Salisbury on Wednesday, the Captains knew exactly what to do. Rolando got things rolling as the sophomore standout pumped back-to-back goals, including a man-up strike to pull the visitors back within one at 4-3.

Although the hosts retaliated with a goal of their own, Christopher Newport brushed it aside and went right back to work. After the defense killed an extra-man opportunity, the offense found its rhythm again. John Thompson kicked off the surge with a dart following an assist by Abbate with four minutes remaining in the third. Later, his cousin joined the fun with the equalizer at the two-minute mark.

After bullying a Saint and corralling the loose ball, Parker Thompson settled in and drove home his first goal of the game to knot the score at five heading into the fourth quarter.

Back on even ground, the Captains wasted little time asserting themselves in the final stanza. After Pekalski caused an early turnover, CNU cleared the ball and stormed right into the Marymount zone. With some space, Foster dished to Abbate, who gave the squad its first lead with 12 minutes remaining. Looking for more, Nick Kirschke won the ensuing faceoff before Aaron Chrzaszcz dropped in a goal just 14 seconds after Abbate's strike to give the squad a 7-5 lead.

With all the momentum, Christopher Newport rolled from there. Hayden made a nice stop to brush aside another extra-man opportunity before Billings found an opening and fired a dart past the Marymount goalie to push the advantage to 8-5 with six minutes remaining.

With time on their side, the Captains added one last goal by Ryan Mills before Pekalski won the final faceoff to run out the clock and seal the 9-5 victory.

Overall, CNU held a 51-28 edge in shots and a 30-26 lead in ground balls. The two squads split the game's 18 faceoffs.

Although the game ended well for Christopher Newport, the first half was tough for the visitors. Marymount opened the scoring with two early goals before Foster tacked one on for CNU with five minutes remaining in the first quarter. The second period was all Marymount as the hosts notched two more goals to earn a 4-1 halftime advantage. Fortunately, the Captains picked up eight second-half goals and limited MU to just one to pull out another thrilling come-from-behind victory.

Christopher Newport will return to action on Wednesday when the squad hosts Mary Washington in another CAC tilt at 7 p.m.

---CNU---