VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- Three Captains registered five points apiece, while Brandon Moloney led a tremendous defensive effort as the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team stormed back from an early deficit to topple Virginia Wesleyan, 16-9, during a non-conference showdown on Wednesday evening at Birdsong Field.
 
On the offensive end, Matthew Crist, Will Geise, and Ryan Mills all collected five points for the Captains. Crist eventually finished with a team-high four goals, including two man-up tallies, while Mills and Randy Foster also contributed hat-tricks. Meanwhile, Tony Cruz was electric on faceoffs as the sophomore standout controlled possession by winning 17 of his 25 battles to go along with five ground balls.
 
Equally impressive on the defensive end, Moloney pieced together another terrific effort. The reigning Capital Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week collected 11 ground balls and forced four turnovers. His 11 ground balls established a new career-high and matched the highest single-game total by a non-faceoff specialist in CNU history.
 
Joining Moloney on the defensive end, Harrison Drier caused three turnovers, while Michael Mabry and Christopher Albright notched two apiece. Continuing his strong play between the pipes, Matt Hayden tallied 12 saves to earn the victory. That marked his 27th career win, tying former standout Andy McGregor for the all-time program record.
 
With the triumph, Christopher Newport improves to 7-2 on the season. The setback drops Virginia Wesleyan to 6-2.
 
Despite an early rocket by Jay Gaffney that put the Captains on the board in the first quarter, the Marlins were the aggressor early on and jumped out to a fast 3-1 edge. Needing to settle down on the defensive end, Shane McKenna forced a turnover and Hayden made a save to flip the field. Shortly thereafter, the Captains put together a quick clear and caught Virginia Wesleyan in an unsettled situation as Albright found Mills, who lit up the defense with his first goal to pull CNU within one at 3-2.
 
Although the hosts responded and tossed their fourth goal on the board with eight seconds remaining in the opening stanza, Christopher Newport shot back with a highlight-reel goal. With time running out, Drier gained control after Cruz won the ensuing faceoff. Following a restart, Drier pulled up and fired a pinpoint pass from midfield that Crist corralled and hammered home just as the horn sounded to close out the first quarter.
 
Back within one, Foster continued the surge in the second period as the junior whistled a missile just under the crossbar from long-distance to knot the score at four.
 
Although the Marlins responded again to retake a one-goal edge, Christopher Newport settled in on the defensive end. Jake O'Connell had a stellar ride on a VWC attacker to force a pass before Hayden made a big-time save. Later, after the Captains were hit with a two-minute penalty, Hayden made another solid stop before O'Connell cleared the zone to kill the man-down situation.
 
After the Marlins came away empty-handed following a CNU penalty, the Captains made the hosts pay after VWC was called for a slash. On the power play, Geise found Mills, who slipped free on the interior before driving home his second bullet to even things at five.
 
Continuing to trade penalties, Christopher Newport was hit with a second foul, but the squad's man-down unit stepped up again. Hayden made another key stop before O'Connell came through with his second shorthanded clear to kill off another penalty with four minutes left in the half.
 
Following the solid defensive stand, the attack put the perfect punctuation mark on the first half. Joey Rolando gave CNU its first lead with a dagger off a feed from Dave Magdeburger before Mills found Geise on the back side for his first score to push Christopher Newport's lead to 7-5. Still rolling, Cruz won the ensuing faceoff and the Captains called for a timeout to set up one final play in the second period.
 
With less than half a minute left on the clock, Geise connected with Foster, who showed off his range again with another screamer to the back of the net to nail down an 8-5 advantage heading into the break.
 
Halftime did not slow the Captains down as the visitors continued their assault early in the third. Crist showed his toughness as the sophomore bounced back from a brutal hit to drop another man-up goal on the Marlins. Minutes later, McKenna laced a sidewinder into the net for CNU's 10th goal before Mills and Foster blistered back-to-back ropes to push the lead to 12-5 midway through the third.
 
While the offense continuing to electrify the crowd, the defense was just as dominant. Crist put together a great ride to push a midfielder out-of-bounds and force a turnover before William Gingerich brought the hammer down and caused another miscue to regain possession. Hayden also added another save before Moloney and McKenna joined forces at midfield to disrupt a clearing attempt and take the ball back.
 
Although the Marlins were eventually able to sneak past the defense for their sixth goal, Geise shot back with his second strike off a gorgeous feed from Ian Godlee to retake a seven-goal edge entering the final quarter.
 
With little left to prove, Christopher Newport eased to the victory. Despite three goals by the Marlins in the final stanza, the Captains matched them shot-for-shot. Andrew Ashley notched his second goal of the year off a pass from O'Connell before Crist carved up the defense for the final two tallies to lock up the 16-9 win.
 
Overall, CNU held a 47-35 edge in shots and a 54-36 lead in ground balls. Christopher Newport also won 17 of the game's 28 faceoffs and converted all three of its extra-man opportunities. Meanwhile, the Captains held the Marlins quiet on both of their man-up situations.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts No. 15 Frostburg State in a key CAC bout at 1 p.m.
 
---CNU---