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ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- Things looked grim early for the eighth-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team, trailing their former conference rivals from North Carolina Wesleyan College, 3-1, just over 26 minutes into the match. The high-powered Captains offense sparked to life, however, scoring three goals in the final seven minutes of a wild first half, capping off a comeback that would see CNU capture a 4-3 win on the road. 

The Captains improved to 4-0-0 this season, while the Battling Bishops fall to 1-2-0. It was the second time in the young season that the Captains erased a deficit of two goals or more to come back for a win. 

The game started with Christopher Newport on top, as leading scorer Patrick Burns notched his fifth goal of the season. He was found on a through ball by sophomore Andrew Gogolin before slipping a shot past the Bishops goalkeeper into the left side of the net. Unfortunately, the CNU lead would hold for less than a minute as Julius Oskarsson used a nifty dribble in the box to get by the CNU defense for an unassisted tally to tie the score. 

That would trigger a 3-0 run for the home team, as Oskarsson picked up a penalty kick goal in the 25th minute and took a 3-1 lead in the 27th when Tobi Thorfinnsson found Caetano Viegas for a one-timer in the box. 

Momentum appeared heavy in favor of the Battling Bishops, but the Captains offense would kick into gear before intermission. The trigger came from sophomore Mamadou Barry, scoring his first collegiate goal in the 39th minute off an assist by Sebastian Abrigo. The senior midfielder found a sprinting Barry down the left side of the field between a pair of defenders, where he would tickle the twine on a low shot past Jesper Olsson, the Bishops keeper. 

Pushing forward for an equalizer in the last five minutes, sophomore Girma Baker picked up the first of two helpers on the next goal, off the foot of senior Garrett Van Nutt. With just over three minutes remaining, Baker crossed to Van Nutt's feet from the right side, where the senior midfielder connected on a goal into the left side of the net.  

Not satisfied with just tying the score in the intense first half, the Captains re-took the lead with under a minute to go before halftime. Baker again set up the goal, crossing a pass from the right where rookie Zachary Ballard volleyed home the eventual gamewinner. Ballard earned his second game-winning goal in as many games, as the score held up for the rest of the game. 

In the second half, both team managed a pair of shots on goal, but Olsson and CNU keeper Nolan Mann turned away both attempts. Mann stood tall on one particular free kick from about 25 yards out, where Dori Bjarneyjarson blistered a hard shot over the wall and directly toward the top of the CNU goal. Mann knocked away the shot with a fully-extended diving save. 

Offensively, four different Captains registered goals, while Baker led the way with two assists. Burns took a team-high three shots, with one on-goal. Defender Sean Christein also put two shots on-goal for the Captains. 

CNU will return to action this weekend, as they travel to Rutgers-Camden for the Cialella Soccer Classic. The Captains will face the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights (1-2-0) on Saturday, September 12 at 2:00 pm, before taking on the host Scarlet Raptors at 4:00 pm on Sunday, September 13.