Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Taylor Williams scored a pair of goals and Carol Thompson added two assists to help lead the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team to its third straight victory as the Captains toppled Eastern Mennonite, 4-3, during a non-conference showdown on Wednesday evening at the EMU Turf Field.

During the game, Williams contributed her first career multi-goal effort to pace the offensive attack. Alexa Weaver also registered her first collegiate goal early in regulation, while Allie Hackbarth scored in the second half to give CNU some much-needed breathing room.

On the defensive end, the Captains clamped down on the Royals and limited the hosts to just eight shots, including six on-goal. After taking over in the cage late in the first half, Savanah Cummings did fine work between the pipes as the sophomore notched three saves to stymie the EMU attack.

With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 5-1 on the season. The setback drops Eastern Mennonite to 1-6.

Although the Royals were able to get on the board first with a goal just three minutes into regulation, the Captains answered with a vengeance. Less than two minutes after Eastern Mennonite opened the scoring, Weaver knotted the game at one. After CNU peppered the zone with a pair of quick shots, Weaver swooped in and corralled a loose ball before unloading a dart to the back of the cage.

Still on the attack, the Captains grabbed the lead just two minutes later. On the play, Lisa Murphy secured possession of the ball before rolling a centering feed across the zone to Williams. With some room to work, the junior wasted no time depositing her first goal of the game to give CNU a 2-1 edge only six minutes into regulation.

Not satisfied, Christopher Newport continued to test the EMU defense. After grabbing the lead, the visitors remained on the attack and ripped the next six shots of the game before Williams struck again. Following bullets by Hackbarth and Madison Doss, which helped loosen up the defense, Thompson took control and dished to Williams, who unloaded another one-timer for her second goal at 23:27.

Although the Captains pieced together another run late in the first half, Eastern Mennonite withstood the surge. Later, with time running down in the opening period, Camille Williams wiggled free and found a sliver of daylight to pull the Royals back within one at 3-2.

Following the break, Hackbarth and Thompson were on a mission early in the second half. The two standouts decked the defense with a flurry of blasts as the pair combined for CNU's first six shots of the period. Finally, 13 minutes into the frame, Hackbarth broke through. Fittingly, Thompson lent a hand as the freshman sent another perfect feed through the zone, which Hackbarth quickly converted into her first goal of the season.

After the offense gained a two-goal advantage, the defense had to withstand an impressive run by the Royals. During a 17-second window in the middle of the period, the hosts fired two on-target shots, but Cummings brushed aside both attempts. Later, she clamped down on another run following a penalty corner during the waning moments of the half.

With time running down, Eastern Mennonite kept pressuring the CNU defense and eventually mustered one final goal with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. Fortunately, after the Captains called a timeout, the squad settled down and blocked EMU's last-ditch effort to ice the one-goal victory.

Overall, CNU held a 20-8 advantage in shots and a 14-4 lead in corners.

Christopher Newport will be back in action on Saturday when the squad hosts No. 7 Tufts in a top-10 showdown at Captains Turf Field. Game time is slated for 11 a.m., and there will be a postgame clinic for boys and girls ages 7-19. Additional information on the clinic can be found HERE.

---CNU---