Box Score in HTML FormatNEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Despite a pair of shots finding the back of the net, the 10th-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team was forced to settle for a scoreless draw on Saturday night. The Captains (9-0-4, 2-0-2) had one goal called back to offsides and a second just after the buzzer sounded in overtime as Frostburg State (8-3-1, 2-1-1) escaped with a 0-0 draw.
Christopher Newport dominated the offensive action all night, outshooting their conference foes by a final tally of 18-3. CNU put half of their attempts on frame, but Frostburg's junior goalkeeper, Hassan Mostafa, turned away eight while a defender made one more.
The action piqued in the second half as CNU put five of their nine shots on-frame. The first big opportunity came just eight minutes into the second half when senior
Ryan Balfour sent a blazing shot just over the left corner after
Harry Nodwell found him open on the left side. Just two minutes later, senior defender
Sean Christein tested Mostafa with a bullet on-frame, but the Bobcats netminder made a sensational diving save with outstretched arms to keep the Captains off the board.
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The CNU bench erupted in the 60th minute of action when senior defender
Sammy Blosser appeared to put the Captains on the board. A free kick taken from just beyond midfield was hammered into the box, where Mostafa got a hand on it, but it glanced backwards and into the net. After the dust settled following the celebration, the goal was disallowed due to an offsides penalty by one of the CNU attackers.
In the 73rd minute, senior
Garrett Van Nutt smashed a shot off the left post that looked destined for the upper 90, but he had a tough angle and was denied by the goalpost.
In the 83rd minute, Serigne Gueye picked up his second yellow and was ejected, giving the Captains a man advantage the rest of the way. Even with the man down situation, it was Frostburg State who nearly ended the game in the first overtime period. A miscue by the Captains allowed Nabayee Tesfu to get loose in the box, but racing back to make a stellar defensive play was
Cameron Vaughn, sliding in front of Tesfu's shot to block it away.
Then, as the final ten seconds were ticking away in the first overtime, junior
Preston Key found himself running through a hard shot from the left side. His attempt glanced off a defender and past Mostafa into the goal and again the CNU bench celebrated, but again was denied the win as the officials ruled time had expired before the ball crossed the goal line.
The last big chance for the Captains came as Burns headed a shot toward an empty net as CNU found Mostafa off his line. The soft header didn't get past Mitchell Muise, however, and the defender cleared it away to avoid the goal-scoring chance.
CNU held a dominant advantage in both total shots and corner kicks, as CNU took 14 corners versus 6 for the Bobcats.
Nolan Mann made two saves in 110 minutes of action for the Captains. The CNU defense, led by Christein,
Bobby Seifert, Blosser and Vaughn, allowed just three shots in the game.
The overtime contest was the seventh in 13 games this season for the nationally-ranked Captains. CNU is now unbeaten in 21 straight games, second only in NCAA play to Calvin's 33-game roll.
CNU travels to St. Mary's (Md.) on Wednesday, October 14 for their next CAC game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm against the Seahawks.
