Box Score NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Facing the nation's top-ranked squad, the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team battled hard but could not overcome a five-goal halftime deficit as CNU fell to No. 1 Salisbury, 18-10, in a Capital Athletic Conference battle on a crisp Tuesday evening at Captains Turf Field.
After setting the program's career goals record on Saturday,
Ashton Marshall tacked on four more against the Sea Gulls, while
Jessica Singer and
Meaghan Galvin each contributed a pair.
Erin Callahan also put together a strong day, notching a team-high three assists and three draw controls.
Unfortunately, the Captains could not quite hang with the Sea Gulls, who received six goals from Shelby Nemecek to earn the victory. With the win, Salisbury improves to 13-0, including 5-0 in conference action. The setback drops Christopher Newport to 7-6 with a 2-3 mark in league play.
From the outset, Salisbury controlled the tempo and struck quickly. The visitors scored the game's first four goals during an eight-minute run. Needing a spark, the Captains called a timeout and regrouped. Following the stoppage, Marshall took the ball at the top of the arc and bullied her way towards the goal. After clearing some space, the senior notched her first score at 21:24 to pull CNU back within three at 4-1.
Later, after Salisbury responded with another goal, Marshall shot back again. This time, Callahan and Marshall slipped free on a fast break. With numbers, Callahan ran to the top of the circle and floated a perfect feed to Marshall, who settled in on the doorstep. With a clean look, she corralled the pass and buried a laser just under the bar to whittle the deficit back down to three with 18 minutes remaining.
Despite strong defense by the Captains, which included a spectacular save by
Hanna Slough on a free-position attempt, the Sea Gulls continued to pull away. Although
Sam Puglisi shot through the defense and drove home a dart for her second goal of the year, SU scored five of the next six goals to grab a 10-3 edge with seven minutes remaining in the half.
Showing heart, Christopher Newport continued to battle and struck for the final two goals of the half to pull back within five. Galvin came through with the first goal after bouncing a perfect shot off the turf with six minutes remaining. Later, the freshman caused a turnover and Slough made two more saves to headline the defensive effort before Singer capitalized off a feed from
Emily Johnson to cap off the first half.
Leading 10-5 at the break, Salisbury extended its lead with a back-breaking run early in the second half. Although Galvin chipped in with another strike for the Captains, SU scored six of the first seven goals in the new stanza to take a 16-6 lead with 23 minutes left on the clock.
With the game out-of-reach, Christopher Newport never slowed down and continued to pick at the Salisbury defense. Marshall added two more goals during the middle of the second half, including a textbook tally off another perfectly-placed pass by Callahan. The defense also continued to fight as Slough made three stops and picked off a pass to clamp down on a Sea Gull surge.
Kirsten Mendelsohn and
Shannon Fluharty also forced key turnovers to disrupt SU's flow.
As time ran down, CNU's offense found its footing and struck twice late in the period to wrap up the scoring. Singer blistered a shot through the Salisbury defense with five minutes left before
Rachel Wall capped off the game with her fifth goal of the season at 3:25.
Overall, Salisbury held a 34-29 advantage in shots and secured 18 of the game's 30 draws. CNU held a slim 20-17 edge in ground balls. The Captains also had some nice moments on the defensive end as Slough finished with 10 saves, while Galvin and
Morgan Smith each forced a pair of turnovers.
Christopher Newport will be back in action on Saturday when the squad heads to Marymount for a 2 p.m. tilt.
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