Box Score in HTML Format
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- With a pair of goals in each half, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team showcased what is becoming a familiar offensive outburst to get by Penn State Harrisburg on Saturday, 4-2. Senior
Jimmy Grace had a sensational game for the Captains, scoring two goals and creating a third as the league's leading scorer continued his stellar season. After the win, CNU secured one of the top two seeds in the 2016 Capital Athletic Conference Tournament, improving to 14-2-1 overall with a 7-0-1 league record with just one game left on the schedule.
The Captains have now scored three or more goals in eight of their 17 games this season, and continue a streak of nine straight multi-goal efforts. CNU has registered more than one goal in all but one game, and, with 51 goals scored, the 2016 season ranks in the top ten among single season goal scoring in program history.
The 14th win of the season would not be a runaway, despite what the final score might indicate. CNU took a 2-0 lead, but the home team battled back to knot the game at two goals apiece early in the second half. It would take two late tallies, including Grace's fifth game-winning goal of the year, to get past the Lions, who fall to 11-6-0, 5-3-0 on the season.
The back-and-forth affair saw the CNU offense get started early, with CNU's senior leader connecting on a penalty kick goal in the eighth minute of play. He becomes just the fourth player in program history to register three or more PK goals in the same season, going 3-for-3 from the spot this year.
The Captains would control all the action for the first 20 minutes and forced an own goal to take a 2-0 lead in the 16th minute of play. Grace delivered a hard shot that looked destined for the goal when a Penn State Harrisburg deflected the shot into the net. The two-goal lead wouldn't last long, as the Lions would cash in on their first score of the night just five minutes later off a set piece. Mena Rezkalla took the free kick, assisting on the score by Victor Weaver, his fifth of the season.
CNU would carry a 2-1 lead into intermission after a fairly even half, but the Lions found the equalizer early in the second stanza. Rezkalla picked up his second assist of the day when he helped on Chase Vilga's fifth goal of the season, while Ethan Hoover was also credited with an assist. The game-tying goal came in the 64th minute, forcing the potent Captains attack to remain an aggressor.
Eight minutes later, Grace connected on his league-leading 11th goal of the season off an assist from rookie
Jordan Boone. The CNU defense would make sure it would hold up as the game-winning goal, not allowing another Penn State Harrisburg to light up the scoreboard again. The Captains got an insurance goal in the 86th minute, on the second own goal of the game for the Lions.
CNU has one game left on the regular season schedule, hosting Marymount University for Senior Night on Wednesday, October 26. The Captains will be playing with a chance to capture the outright CAC regular season title, with kickoff set for 7:00 pm.
