BUENA VISTA, Va. -- Playing in the back end of a CAC soccer doubleheader, the third-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team is back in action on Tuesday night, taking on Southern Virginia University. The unbeaten Captains (8-0-3, 1-0-1) will face off against the Knights (1-9-0, 0-1-0) at 7:00 pm, with live stats and video available at CNUsports.com.
The Captains are 2-0 all-time against Southern Virginia after capturing an 8-0 victory in Newport News last season. CNU has outscored the Knights 14-0 in their two matchups over the last two seasons. Last season, both CAC Player of the Year
Jalon Brown and current scoring leader
Patrick Burns registered hat tricks in the game, marking just the third time in program history two players have scored hat tricks in the same game.
This year, senior goalkeeper
Nolan Mann continues to lead a strong defense that has allowed just eight goals in 11 games played this season. Mann's goals-against average of 0.67 ranks second in the league, as does his five shutouts. As a team, the Captains lead the CAC with a 0.67 GAA while allowing just 7.7 shots per game. Senior
Sean Christein and rookie
Bobby Seifert have played the most minutes, while
Sammy Blosser,
Cameron Vaughn and
Zach Douglass have helped create the stingy back line.
Offensively, senior
Ryan Balfour is among the league leaders with three game-winning goals, and ranks second on the team with eight total points. Sophomore
Andrew Gogolin scored the Captains lone tally in their last game, and is one of five players with multiple goals scored already this season.
The Knights have picked up just one win so far this season, shutting out Ferrum College for a 1-0 victory earlier this season. Southern Virginia has been shut out six times in their first ten games, scoring just four goals so far. Rookie Gabriel Ramirez has one goal and one assist for a team-best three points, while sophomore Gregg Allen has the lone game-winning strike for SVU.
The game will kick off at approximately 7:00 pm, immediately following the women's games in Buena Vista. Live stats and video will be available at CNUsports.com.
