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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The 22nd-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team took over first place in the Capital Athletic Conference and inched ever closer to a spot in the 2016 CAC Tournament on Friday night, winning at home in overtime against the University of Mary Washington, 2-1. Sophomore Daniel Zeitoun set up the game-winning header by Stephen Durbin just under four minutes into the first extra period, and the Captains celebrated their seventh win in the last eight games. 

CNU improved to 12-2-1 overall with a 5-0-1 conference record, while the Eagles fall to 10-3-0 with a 5-1-0 mark against CAC competition. The two flipped spots at the top of the conference standings with just three games remaining on the regular season schedule. 

Durbin's league-leading ninth goal of the season came in thrilling fashion in front of a packed house of 1,278 fans on Friday night, the fourth largest crowd in program history. The play began with Zeitoun beating his defender down the left side and serving a picture-perfect pass from the end line back across the goalmouth. The cross arced over the Mary Washington keeper and to the back post, where Durbin elevated and hammered home a textbook header for the game-winning goal. 

Zeitoun's service was his second assist of the season, while Durbin joined teammate Jimmy Grace atop the conference scoring chart, with 21 points this season. 

The dramatic finish was set up by a late equalizer from Mary Washington, tying the game with just over 11 minutes remaining. Lucas Turney took a long throw for the Eagles and Jack Nelson scored his first goal of the year, finishing the bouncing ball on the back post. 

CNU took a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute when junior Andrew Gogolin finished after a stellar pass from Sammy Blosser. On what looked to be a run of the mill clearance, Blosser put some english on the ball and it spun back toward the 18-yard box for Gogolin. The CNU midfielder then took on a pair of defenders, spun and found a sliver of daylight to slip a hard low shot into the left side of the goal. It was Gogolin's sixth goal of the season. 

Defensively, CNU was strained playing in their second consecutive overtime contest, but sophomore Bobby Seifert and seniors Harry Nodwell and Blosser played exceptionally well. Rookie Derek Cook made his third career start, while Cameron Vaughn and Hunter Simons each saw time on the outside as well. The CNU defense allowed just 11 total shots, with only five on-frame. Junior goalkeeper Zach Pedini stopped four shots, and also escaped danger with a nice play early in overtime when Mary Washington failed to get a shot off, but saw the ball loose in the six-yard box for several seconds. 

The game nearly ended in the 89th minute when senior Patrick Burns eyed the upper 90 with a blast from the left side, but the Captains' senior narrowly missed by a margin of just a foot or two.

The Captains will now hit the road for two games before closing out the regular season at home on October 26. Next up is a trip to Salisbury University on Wednesday, October 19 with kickoff slated for 3:30 pm. 

Highlights