SAN JUAN, P.R. -- Freshman Catie Chess posted six points, including five goals, but the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team dropped a hard-fought 13-9 decision to No. 17 St. John Fisher as the Captains wrapped up their Spring Break trip on Thursday morning at Bayamon Stadium.

During the contest, Chess played a role in each of CNU's first five goals before finishing with a career-high six points. The first-year standout has now scored at least twice in three straight games and accumulated at least two points in four of her first five collegiate contests.

In addition to Chess, Kylie Chaplin contributed four points, including three assists against the Cardinals. Colleen Bourgal, Erin Callahan, and Caitlin King all scored for the Captains as well.

With the setback, Christopher Newport falls to 2-3 on the season. St. John Fisher now stands at 1-1.

Less than four minutes into regulation, the Captains found themselves staring at 3-0 hole after the Cardinals pieced together a huge run in the early going. Despite the deficit, Christopher Newport remained calm and quickly responded. First, the defense stood strong as Hanna Slough made a huge save and Tess D'Arcy ended another Fisher run with a caused turnover.

Shortly thereafter, the offense found its rhythm during a momentum-turning, 30-second surge. Kicking things off, Chess capitalized on a pass from Chaplin to put CNU on the board. Later, after Meaghan Galvin controlled the ensuing draw, Chess assisted on Bourgal's first goal to cut the deficit back down to one.

Sensing a shift, St. John Fisher whistled for a timeout to break Christopher Newport's resurgence. The stoppage paid off as the Cardinals posted back-to-back tallies to retake a three-goal lead. Although Chess was able to strike again after burning the back of the net with her second tally, Fisher retaliated with three straight goals to nab an 8-3 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.

Once again, CNU battled back. Capping off her first-half binge, Chess struck one last time before the break. After Chaplin beat her defender and curled to the far side of the field, she hit Chess in-stride with a perfectly-timed pass. Still rolling, the freshman made a quick turn and whipped the ball through the Cardinal defense to pull the Captains back within four.

Needing a stop, Sam Puglisi kept St. John Fisher off the board with a tremendous stand in the waning moments of the period. First, she forced a turnover and scooped up the roller to clamp down on a Fisher run. Later, after the Captains were unable to clear the zone, she ran down another loose ball and kept possession to close out the first half.

In the second stanza, Puglisi continued to frustrate the Cardinal attack as she caused another turnover before Mariah Ginebra did the same during a suffocating five-minute stand. Although St. John Fisher was eventually able to find a little breathing room and tacked on the squad's ninth goal, CNU began to whittle away at its deficit in the middle of the period.

Seven minutes into the second half, Chess kicked off the team's comeback bid with her fourth goal. This time, she showed off her physical play as she drove into the defense and battled through contact before earning a free-position attempt. With the eight-meter shot, she blistered a rope into the top of the net to pull the squad back within four at 9-5.

Although Fisher responded a few minutes later, the Captains shot back with two straight scores. At the midway point of the period, Galvin wrapped around the back of the pipes and drew the attention of the Cardinal defense. With a little room to work, King cut hard, secured the feed, and drilled her first goal in a single motion to bring the deficit down to 10-6. Three minutes later, Chaplin cut St. John Fisher's lead down to three after tucking a dagger into the far corner of the net off a free-position attempt.

Once again, St. John Fisher called for a timeout in order to break CNU's momentum. Unfortunately, it worked for the second time as the Cardinals ripped off three straight goals, which gave the team a commanding 13-7 lead entering the final five minutes of regulation.

With the game slipping away, the Captains showed heart and retaliated with the last two goals of the game. At the four-minute mark, Chess put the final exclamation point on her day after converting a pass from Chaplin into her fifth goal. Three minutes later, Callahan wrapped up the scoring after using a nice head fake on a free-position attempt to get the goalie out of position and cap off the contest.

During the game, St. John Fisher held a 23-19 edge in shots, while both teams caused five turnovers. CNU led the way in ground balls, 23-15, including three apiece by Callahan and Caitlin Osbourne. The Captains also controlled 10 of the game's 23 draws with Lindsay Weaver posting a team-high three for CNU.

On the defensive end, Puglisi finished with two caused turnovers, while Slough chipped in with four saves.

Christopher Newport will return to action on March 11 when the squad hosts Virginia Wesleyan in a 4 p.m. battle at Captains Turf Field.

---CNU---