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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- For the third time this season, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team were against the ropes, but for the third time, the 7th-ranked Captains came away unscathed. A late second half goal from Garrett Van Nutt, and the game-winning strike from Harry Nodwell, led the Captains (7-0-1) to a 2-1 double overtime win over former conference rival Greensboro College (2-4-0) at Captains Field Saturday night. 

Christopher Newport ran their season-opening unbeaten streak to eight games with the comeback, and also improved to 3-0-1 in overtime games this season. Twice already have the Captains captured a double overtime win at home, with a 3-2 win against Virginia Wesleyan and Saturday's 2-1 victory over Greensboro.

In an odd set of circumstances, the Captains were staring back at their own jerseys on Saturday night, as Greensboro was forced to wear the CNU road kits due to a travel snafu. It was the dark CNU jerseys that scored first in the game, as Greensboro took advantage of a defensive miscue in just the ninth minute of action. 

On a run down the right side, Craig Gage looked to center a pass for Shaun Watt, but a CNU defender looked to intercept. Unable to corral the bouncing pass, Watt was loose and open in the box with no one but Nolan Mann, the CNU keeper, to beat. A hard shot to the left got Greensboro on the board, taking a 1-0 lead. 

The Pride defense packed it in from that point, happy to play for a 1-0 victory and limit the Captains quality chances. CNU struggled through a tough first half, but showed signs of life heading into the intermission. Sophomore Mamadou Barry found a streaking Girma Baker down the left side into the box for a great chance with just five minutes left, but Baker couldn't get a shot off on the run. 

After halftime, CNU made an adjustment and looked more crisp offensively, but was unable to convert for the first 35 minutes of the second half. Then, with just over six minutes remaining, Barry added another beautiful pass to his night and this time was rewarded on the other end. Senior midfielder Garrett Van Nutt got to the ball first and touched past a defender into the box before smacking a hard shot from the left side into the center of the goal. 

The game-tying tally sent the bench into a frenzy as the Captains had new life on their home field. In the first overtime period, CNU dominated Greensboro with three shots, including a smoking liner off the foot of Ryan Balfour that looked destined to end the game, but went just high. It wasn't long into the second overtime period, though, that the Captains would find the winner. 

Rookie defender Bobby Seifert started the play with a long pass up the left side for senior Mark Brewington, who muscled past his defender with a touch inside toward the top of the box. He slipped a pass central for Patrick Burns, who was swallowed up by a pair of defenders and quickly tapped once more to the middle of the field where Nodwell unleashed a blistering laser through the box and by the keeper for the win. 

Nodwell was relentless all night despite a modest line in the box score, as the senior was seemingly all over the park for the Captains, leading the way. Burns and Balfour each had a pair of attempts on goal to lead a Captains attack that outshot the Pride 17-7, including a 9-3 edge in shots on-goal.

Christopher Newport will be back in action on Wednesday, September 23 as they play host to Lynchburg College (4-1-1) in the non-conference regular season finale.  That game will kick off at 7:00 pm on Captains Field.