SALEM, Va. -- Junior Bailey Lien established a new program record with her 33rd career victory, while her offense did most of the heavy lifting on Friday evening as the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team raced past Roanoke, 6-0, during a non-conference battle at Kerr Stadium.
 
The victory moved Lien past Emma Stout for the top spot on the program's all-time wins list. The third-year standout now sits at 33-7 in her illustrious career with the Captains. Fittingly, the record-breaker came in a shutout as Lien extended her scoreless streak to over 200 minutes dating back to the second half against Wesley on September 12.
 
While Lien earned the headlines, the CNU attack was nearly unstoppable on Friday. Facing a defense that entered the game allowing less than one goal per contest, the Captains dropped half-a-dozen on the Maroons. Brittan Muir led the onslaught with her first two career strikes, while Mackenzie Neylon added a goal and an assist. Carol Thompson, Lauren Cheatham, and Josie Morgan all found the back of the cage as well.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 6-1 on the season. The setback drops Roanoke to 4-4.
 
After a back-and-forth battle consumed much of the first half, the Captains erupted near the tail end of the opening period. Thompson got things jumping as she punched home a dagger from the doorstep in the 24th minute. Just over a minute later, the squad pieced together a textbook two-on-one break.
 
Following a long feed from Moira Wright, which jumpstarted the run, Cheatham broke loose on the near side of the field. After racing past a defender, she found herself on a breakaway alongside Neylon. With some nifty passing, Cheatham hit her teammate in-stride before Neylon gave it back. Capping off the gorgeous play with a highlight-reel punctuation mark, Cheatham dove towards the cage and slapped in the squad's second goal.
 
After a fancy play led to a 2-0 lead, the Captains went back to basics for the third score. After earning a penalty corner, Samantha Snider inserted the ball from the end line. Settling in at the top of the circle, Muir took the feed, pushed the ball forward a few inches, and unleashed an absolute tracer that screamed through the defense and gave Christopher Newport a three-goal cushion just five minutes before halftime.
 
Although the offense was the story of the first half, the defense did its job as well. Preventing the Maroons from even attempting a shot, Muir stood tall on the back end and cut off several deep attacks, while Lien scurried out of the cage and brushed aside a one-on-one attempt with a diving stab to keep the game scoreless entering the break.
 
Just after halftime, Muir hit the hosts with her second goal of the game. Nearly identical to her first strike, she converted off another corner after corralling a spinner at the top of the circle. Once she gained control of the pass, she simply wound-up and blistered another rope right through the Maroons to give the visitors a comfortable 4-0 advantage.
 
With everything going well for the Captains, Lauren Reinaman cut off a clear attempt to keep the ball in the RC zone before Muir broke up a sustained attack by the hosts. Shortly thereafter, the offense added its final two strikes as Morgan and Neylon snapped off a pair of goals during a solid seven-minute surge, which closed out the scoring.
 
Although the CNU attack wrapped up its day midway through the second half, the defense continued to excel. Wright put on a clinic near midfield as the senior showed off amazing stick skills, weaving through several defenders while intercepting a pair of passes to frustrate the Maroon attack. Meanwhile, on the back end, Stephanie McKinney made two saves in relief of Lien before Kristen Templeton took over between the pipes and made an outstanding stop.
 
Looking to break up the shutout, a Maroon slipped free on a breakaway. Having no interest in giving Roanoke a last-minute goal, Templeton cruised out of the cage and made a diving play to swat the ball away before her defense cleared the zone and sealed the shutout.
 
Overall, CNU held a 16-5 lead in shots, while Roanoke had a slim 4-3 advantage in corners. However, the Captains made the most of their opportunities to run away with the 6-0 victory.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action tomorrow at 1 p.m. with a neutral-site battle against Rhodes at Kerr Stadium.
 
---CNU---