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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After being held scoreless through the first 45 minutes, the Christopher Newport offense exploded for a record-tying eight second-half goals to blow past Southern Virginia University (3-7-0, 0-3-0) in Capital Athletic Conference action on Tuesday night. The Captains also set a new program mark for the best ten-game start to a season as they improved to 9-1-0 overall, with a 3-0-0 record in conference play. 

The eight goals came in a flourish during the second half, marking the third time in program history a team has scored eight in one stanza. CNU scored eight in the first half against Peace in 2004, and also had an eight-goal burst against Averett in 2000. The 2000 season was the last time the Captains won eight of their first nine games, but that team suffered a loss in game number ten, moving the 2016 team into sole possession of the best record in program history through ten games. 

Despite the final score, Southern Virginia battled defensively throughout the game, and shut down one of the league's top offenses for the first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Miller was tested time and time again, but turned away 12 shots in the first half to keep the game scoreless. Several highlight-worthy saves were made, but none better than in the final two minutes of the opening half, when rookie Libby Hinton smashed a long shot destined for the top of the goal. Miller tracked back, leaped and just got fingertips on the shot to punch it over the crossbar. 

The Captains outshot the Knights, 18-4, in the first half, but Southern Virginia did put three shots on-goal. CNU junior goalkeeper Carly Maglio was up to the task on all three attempts, including a long running save after a hard shot from Tatiana Monsen in the last ten minutes. 

Things shifted mightily in the second half, as CNU put away seven of the eight goals in the final 30 minutes. Rookie Carson Pokorny got things started with a terrific run up the left side, blitzing past her defender before slipping a short pass into the middle of the box for her senior scoring leader, Victoria Perry. Perry's first touch was directed into the left side, and would hold up as the game-winning goal. With that tally, she has now registered 15 career gamewinners, good for the most in program history. 

The first score came in the 53rd minute, but the floodgates would open in the 61st. Junior Danielle Pratt found Taylor Hudgins wide open in the middle of the field, where she would take her space for a 15-yard run. Then, from about 25 yards out, she blistered a hard shot over the outstretched hands of Miller and in for the second goal. 

Just over three minutes later, another nifty combination play made the score 3-0 when Perry delivered her second goal of the game. The play started at midfield when Pokorny slipped a nice ball ahead to Hudgins. Looking up, Hudgins found Perry streaking through the middle of the defense, and the team captain slotted a perfect shot under the keeper and to the right side of the goal. Her 37th, Perry tied Sam Ciaravino for second all-time in career goals. She also now has 99 career points, just four shy of the all-time scoring mark set by Emma O'Reilly. 

The third goal in the span of a 5:16 stretch came just two minutes later when, again, Pokorny delivered a nice play to set up the scoring strike. The rookie became just the eighth player in program history to register three assists in a game when she hustled to save a ball off the goal line and played back to freshman defender Keiley McCarthy at the corner of the box. Her classmate then delivered another perfectly placed shot for the goal, long over the top of the hands of Miller, putting CNU up 4-0. 

After the two teams traded possession for the next 13 minutes, another three-minute spurt would provide the Captains with plenty of insurance. First,  in the 80th minute, junior Alex Miller crashed the back post on a ball played across the goalmouth by sophomore Angie Williams. Two goals later, Miller would score on a near identical play, with sophomore Kayla Locklear passing across from the right side. In between Miller's goals, junior Alexis Haycraft added her first goal of the season when she smashed a 20-yard dart into the left side of the goal. It was the only unasssisted goal of the game for CNU. 

Finally, CNU would cap the impressive second-half with just under three minutes remaining on a great run by junior Kaitlyn DeBaun. Scoring in her second consecutive game, DeBaun received a long pass from Hailey Shaw and had nothing but green in front of her for a long run. With just the keeper to beat, DeBaun delivered a low bouncer into the left side of the goal. 

CNU outshot Southern Virginia 20-2 in the second half, finishing the game with a 38-6 total advantage in shots. Miller made 16 saves in goal for the Knights, while playing just over 85 minutes. Megan Turner came on and made one save, and a defender cleared another shot off the line for the Knights for a total of 18 saves in the game. For CNU, Maglio finished with four saves, securing her sixth shutout of the season. 

Christopher Newport will now carry a five-game winning streak into this weekend's road trip to Frostburg State University. The Captains will face the Bobcats at 5:00 pm on Saturday, October 8. With Hurricane Matthew potentially impacting the weekend's events, fans are encouraged to stay tuned to CNUsports.com for updates, and follow @CNUathletics on Twitter.