HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- After a pair of impressive victories to open up the season, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team suffered its first setback of the 2015 campaign as the Captains dropped a 10-3 decision to Hampden-Sydney on Saturday afternoon at Hellmuth-Pritzlaff Turf Field.
Looking to improve to 3-0 for the third time in program history, CNU stumbled out of the gate and simply could not overcome a four-goal halftime deficit on Saturday.
John Thompson opened the scoring for the Captains with a strike in the second quarter, while
Joey Rolando and
Randy Foster both posted second-half goals.
Brooks Billings and
Casey Cook also notched assists to help balance out the attack.
On the defensive end,
Matt Hayden notched 12 saves for CNU, while
Ryan Long added a stop during his time between the pipes. Unfortunately, Hampden-Sydney's attack was relentless and pulled away for the win.
After Saturday's game, both the Captains and Tigers now sit at 2-1 on the season.
From the outset, Hampden-Sydney set the tone and stormed out to an early lead. The hosts grabbed a fast 2-0 advantage in the first period and quickly added two more scores at the start of the second stanza to put the Captains in a four-goal hole. Staring at an imposing deficit, CNU earned an extra-man advantage and immediately converted. Billings fed the ball to Thompson, who unleashed a dart to pull the visitors back within three.
Looking to keep the momentum, Christopher Newport stepped up on the defensive end. Hayden and Long came through with three saves during a 30-second spurt to silence the Tiger attack. Later, the Captains helped cause four turnovers and
Alex Barber swooped in to snatch up a pair of ground balls. Unfortunately, the CNU offense struggled to find its rhythm, and Hampden-Sydney added one final first-half tally to grab a 5-1 edge entering halftime.
Following the break, the Tigers continued to pounce on every opportunity. In the first five minutes of the third quarter, the hosts drove home two more goals to extend their lead to six. With a comeback bid becoming harder and harder, Christopher Newport made things interesting with a solid push at the end of the third.
Needing a couple of quick strikes, the Captains got exactly what they were looking for. Rolando stung the Tigers with a bullet before Foster capitalized on a feed from Cook to whittle the deficit down to four with a minute left in the third.
Hoping for more, CNU earned another man-up opportunity and both Billings and
Dave Magdeburger pumped a pair of shots. Unfortunately, H-SC's David Noftsinger saved three of the attempts before his defense blocked the fourth to keep the 7-3 lead.
With time on their side, the Tigers pulled away for the victory. Although Hayden made five saves during the fourth quarter and both Billings and
Patrick Miller collected loose balls, Hampden-Sydney was able to tack on three more goals to seal the 10-3 victory.
Overall, the hosts held a 37-25 advantage in shots and a 33-22 lead in ground balls. H-SC was also able to win 12 of the game's 16 faceoffs.
Christopher Newport will look to get back on track on March 4 when the Captains head to Fayetteville, North Carolina for a 1 p.m. showdown with Methodist.
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