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ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- In a mid-season battle for first place atop the Capital Athletic Conference standings, the 21st-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team took sole possession of the league lead with a 2-1 win at St. Mary's College of Maryland. With the win Wednesday evening, CNU ran their winning streak to seven games, improving to 11-1-0 overall, 5-0-0 against the league. In the process, senior Victoria Perry continued to add to an already impressive career resume, becoming just the second player in program history to eclipse 100 points for her career. 

Perry, the Captains' leading scorer for each of the last three seasons, joins Emma O'Reilly ('14), as the only CNU women's soccer player to join the 100-point club.  O'Reilly finished her career with 103 total points as the all-time scoring leader in CNU women's soccer history. Perry now has an even 100 points with 37 career goals and a program-record 26 career assists. 

The historic point came as she added to her record assist total in the first half, when she set up sophomore Kayla Locklear for the first goal of the game. Just minutes after entering the game, Locklear was on the finishing end of a pass from the Perry out of the left corner in the 38th minute. It was her sixth goal of the season and Perry's seventh assist, matching her single season high.  

The Captains offense controlled possession for most of the first half, outshooting the home team 13-6 including a 9-3 advantage in shots on-goal. St. Mary's keeper Sydney Larkin made eight saves in the stanza, holding the Captains to just one goal late in the half. On the other end, CNU junior goalkeeper made three of her five saves in the first half. 

Early in the second half, CNU would tack on an imperative insurance goal in the 54th minute, as a pair of rookies hooked up for the score. Freshman Carson Pokorny played a ball to midfielder Sydney Rife, who connected on her second goal of the season.

Rife's tally proved integral and would hold up as the gamewinner when St. Mary's cut the lead in half in the 75th minute, as Jenna Pastel scored unassisted. The game-winning goal was the first of Rife's career. 

CNU outshot the Seahawks 21-9, led by four shots on-goal by pokorny. Locklear, Gabby Gillis, and Rife all each chipped in a pair of shots on-frame in the contest.

St. Mary's falls to 7-5-0 overall with the setback, suffering their first loss in conference play with a 4-1-0 mark. Pastel's fifth goal highlighted the Seahawks' performance, while Larkin made 13 saves in the setback. 

After taking sole possession of first place, the Captains will now face another stiff test against a team at the top of the league standings, hosting Mary Washington on Saturday, October 15 at 6:00 pm. The game will serve as Senior Day for the senior class, which includes Kate Hurlock, Allie McWilliams, Victoria Perry and Shannon Stefaniga.