HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Battling back from a pair of deficits, the 13th-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team picked up a huge overtime victory against Denison as Carol Thompson drove home the game-winner, which lifted the Captains past the Big Red, 3-2, during a neutral-site battle at the Eastern Mennonite Turf Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Coming up big throughout the game, Lauren Cheatham assisted on the game-winner and also forced overtime with a clutch second-half goal. Meanwhile, Brittan Muir also tacked on her fourth score of the season in the first half.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 10-2 on the season. The setback drops Denison to 9-6 overall.
 
After the Big Red broke a 1-1 deadlock in the 42nd minute of action, the Captains fought back. Shortly after Denison's goal, Cheatham took control on the offensive end and roped back-to-back shots, including one that was batted away by the DU goalie. Refusing to back down, she continued her assault until finally breaking through.
 
In the 58th minute, Cheatham took possession of the ball near the top of the circle. Needing to make something happen, she fired a screaming one-timer that cut straight through the Denison defense to knot the game at two with 12 minutes left.
 
Hoping to end the game in regulation, Cheatham continued to poke at the Big Red. After Christopher Newport earned a penalty corner with less than five minutes remaining, Cheatham eventually gained control and unleashed another rocket, but the ball whistled wide. Shortly thereafter, CNU's defense blocked DU's final attempt to send the game into bonus time.
 
In overtime, the Captains set the pace and controlled possession. Cheatham eventually fired the first three shots of overtime, but one missed the mark and the other two were stoned by Denison's goalie. Unfazed by the momentary setback, Christopher Newport remained vigilant and finally came through with the back-breaker in the 77th minute.
 
Fittingly, Cheatham helped bring an end to the contest. With possession of the ball, she sailed a quick pass in front of the goalie to Thompson, who slapped the roller into the back of the cage to seal the come-from-behind victory.
 
The overtime clincher marked the fourth game-winning goal of the season for Thompson. It also gave CNU its second overtime victory of the year after also downing St. Mary's, 3-2, in bonus time on October 8.
 
Before the late-game heroics by the Captains, CNU was just as active on the offensive end early in the contest. From the outset, the squad tested the Denison defense with a sustained surge. Controlling the tempo, Christopher Newport snapped off the first three shots of the game, including a pair of on-target blasts by Thompson and Rachael Allshouse. Unfortunately, the Big Red managed to silence the early assault before breaking through on the other end.
 
In the 15th minute of action, Jen Durbin was able to sneak past the last line of defense and slipped a shot into the cage to light up the scoreboard and give Denison a fast 1-0 edge.
 
Despite the deficit, Christopher Newport simply settled back in on the offensive end and continued to pepper the Big Red defense. During a two-minute window, Alexa Weaver inserted three straight corners, but two bullets by Muir and a rope by Courtnie Greene were batted away by Denison. Later, another shot by Muir spun wide before the Captains regrouped.
 
Following another penalty corner in the 32nd minute, Muir and Lisa Murphy teamed up on a gorgeous play. Running a little give-and-go from the top of the circle, Murphy sent a pinpoint pass back to Muir, who hammered home a dart to even the score at one. Shortly thereafter, Bailey Lien came up with a crucial save in the final minute of the opening stanza to keep the game tied entering halftime.
 
Although Denison was able to break the deadlock early in the second half, the Captains kept the opposition in-check for most of the contest. Facing an attack that ranked among the nation's leaders with an average of 12.08 corners-per-game, Christopher Newport limited Denison to just five. Muir, Weaver, Cori Black, Kana Hashigami, and Moira Wright all did nifty work on the defensive end to help shut down the Big Red and give the CNU attack an opportunity to battle back.
 
Overall, the Captains held a 16-4 edge in shots and a 12-5 lead in corners during the game. Lien earned the win for CNU, while Ellen Westfall took the loss despite making eight saves for Denison.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action on Monday when the team hosts No. 18 Catholic in a key non-conference battle at 3 p.m. at Captains Turf Field.
 
---CNU---