FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The postseason begins this weekend for the Christopher Newport men's soccer team, as the 5th-seeded Captains look to challenge the 4th-seeded Mary Washington Eagles (12-5-1) for a spot in the Capital Athletic Conference Semifinals against top-seeded Salisbury University. Christopher Newport (11-2-5) will travel to Fredericksburg, Va. for a 2:00 pm kickoff on Saturday, commencing defense of it's conference championship crown. 

The winner of Saturday's contest will advance to play the #1 Sea Gulls (11-3-3) on Wednesday, November 4 in Salisbury, Md. The other first round contest, between #3 Wesley and #6 St. Mary's (Md.), will produce a winner to face #2 seeded York (Pa.). The championship game will follow on Saturday, November 7 at the home field of the highest seed remaining. 

Christopher Newport enters the CAC Tournament as the #5 seed for the second straight season after posting a 4-2-3 record in the conference regular season. The Captains will be familiar with the host Eagles, after facing Mary Washington in the second-to-last game of the year, falling 2-1 on the road. In the game, the teams traded scores within a minute and a half of eachother in the first half, and Mary Washington scored the gamewinner just five minutes into the second half. That loss closed the gap in one of the longest-standing rivalries in CNU men's soccer history, as Christopher Newport now owns just a 20-17-3 advantage in the all-time series. 

This will be the second matchup in postseason history between the two programs, after the Captains won a 2-0 matchup in the 2014 CAC Tournament. Jalon Brown and Patrick Burns scored unassisted goals against the Eagles in last season's postseason game, while the defense did not allow a shot on-goal in the contest. 

This year, the Captains have leaned on that defense throughout the season, allowing just 14 goals in 18 games played. Senior goalkeeper Nolan Mann is 10-0-4 on the season with a 0.54 goals-against average, leading the Captains to nine shutouts this year. The back line, consisting of senior Sean Christein, junior Sammy Blosser, sophomores Cameron Vaughn, Zach Douglass, and rookie Bobby Seifert, has allowed 7.7 shots per game with just 3.2 on-frame.

Offensively, Burns as the team's scoring leader, with 21 points on nine goals and three assists, while senior Ryan Balfour has added five goals and two helpers for 12 points in his swan song season. Sophomore Andrew Gogolin has turned up his play in the latter portion of the schedule and has three goals and three assists, while ranking second to only Burns on the team in SOG%. 

Mary Washington comes into Saturday's elimination game on a three-game unbeaten streak, edging out the Captains for home field in the first round with a 5-3-1 CAC record. Like the Captains, a strong defense highlights the season for the Eagles, allowing just 17 goals in 18 games this year. In goal, sophomore Matt Spencer has seen the bulk of the work, posting a .791 save percentage and a 0.84 goals-against average in just under 1500 minutes of action. He has nine shutouts this season. 

Offensively, Ben Cisse has four goals in the last two games and senior Mike Bennett leads the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists. Juniors Jacob Burke and Riley Fisher have matching nine-point seasons, with four goals and one assist each. 

Live stats and live video will be available of the game starting at 2:00 pm. Links can be found at CNUsports.com.