NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Guided by a high-powered offensive attack, which saw five players register at least three points, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team toppled Mary Washington, 16-6, during an electric Capital Athletic Conference showdown on a beautiful Wednesday evening at Captains Turf Field.
 
Leading the assault, Matthew Crist registered a team-high seven points, which equaled the third-highest single-game total in program history. Meanwhile, Joey Rolando matched his career-high with five assists, which ranks fourth on CNU's all-time list. Equally effective on the offensive end, Ryan Mills and Will Geise also added hat-tricks for the Captains.
 
Just as stout on the defensive side, Harrison Drier forced four turnovers and grabbed six ground balls for CNU, while Thomas Courtney caused three miscues. On the back end, four goalies saw action for the Captains, including Matt Hayden, who earned the victory after making three saves.
 
With the win, Christopher Newport improves to 9-2 on the season with a perfect 3-0 mark in league action. The setback drops Mary Washington to 3-8 overall and 1-3 in the CAC.
 
From the start, the Captains set the tone on both sides of the ball. Less than a minute into regulation, Randy Foster opened the scoring. The reigning South Region Offensive Player of the Week quickly flashed his muscle as the junior scorched the back of the net with an absolute rocket to light up the scoreboard. Although the Eagles quickly evened things at one, the CNU defense stepped up.
 
First, Brandon Moloney prevented a rollback by a UMW attacker before riding him around the zone. Shortly thereafter, Hayden closed off the near post with his first save before picking off a pass through the crease to flip to the field.
 
With possession, Geise erupted with a tremendous surge. First, he showed incredible instincts after an initial shot by Rolando was stoned by the UMW goalie. Following the save, the ball shot up into the air, but Geise read it perfectly, grabbed the ricochet and jammed home his first goal. Continuing to torment the Eagles, he quickly tacked on two more strikes off feeds from Rolando and Crist to push the lead to 4-1 with four minutes left in the first quarter.
 
Although the visitors momentarily halted Geise's run with their second goal, the CNU attack brushed off the setback. Crist kicked off the second wave after curling around a defender for his first goal of the contest. Shortly thereafter, Rolando cleaned up some garbage around the crease as he snatched a ground ball in the middle of a scrum before punching home his first goal.
 
Looking to cap off the first period in style, Crist came back with his second strike before the defense shut down a last-ditch UMW surge. First, Michael Mabry blocked a shot with only a few ticks left on the clock before Hayden made a save as time expired to keep the 7-2 edge entering the second stanza.
 
With a fresh 15 minutes on the board, Mills kicked off the new period with a tremendous play. The junior found himself all alone on the doorstep with just the goalie in his way. Taking advantage of the situation, he faked the keeper with a ridiculous cut and dodge before dropping in his first goal of the game to steal an 8-2 lead.

Continuing to do solid work on the defensive end as well, Drier de-sticked an Eagle with a vicious blow before Courtney broke up another play along the sidelines to regain control. Moments later, after Drier battled through contact at midfield, Crist found Christopher Albright along the crease, who punched home CNU's ninth goal with 10 minutes left in the first half.
 
Showing no signs of slowing down, Mills pieced together an epic run to close out the period. First, he fed a long pass to Jake O'Connell, who burst free on the interior before driving home his first goal of the year. Moments later, after Crist managed to keep control following a barrage of stick-checks, he slipped a perfect pass to Mills, who blistered his second goal.
 
Just over a minute later, with the Captains playing shorthanded following a penalty, Mills picked off a pass at midfield and stormed right to the crease before snapping off his third goal to push the lead to 12-2. Shortly thereafter, with time running down in the first half, Crist tacked on another tally just before time expired to lock up an 11-goal lead entering halftime.
 
Following the break, Christopher Newport continued to pick apart the UMW defense. Two minutes into the new period, Rolando showed precision as he threaded a pass across the zone to Foster, who quickly unleashed a screamer for his second goal. Less than a minute later, Dave Magdeburger showed off some range with a long-distance strike before Crist wrapped up his afternoon with a bounce shot following a pass from Shane McKenna to push the lead to 16-2.
 
With no need to continue the onslaught, CNU relied on its defense to finish the game. Seeing extended action, Matt Scott made two great saves on back-to-back darts late in the third. Drier also broke up a centering feed and pieced together a great ride to prevent a shot and close out the quarter.
 
Although the Eagles managed to find a little daylight early in the fourth, the Captains eventually clamped down. CJ Buechner stoned three shots during his time on the field, including a gorgeous stop after going to the ground. Later, James Hicks took over between the pipes late in the period and added a save of his own on a bullet to close out the 16-6 victory.
 
Overall, Christopher Newport held a 38-22 edge in shots and a 35-31 lead in ground balls during the game. The two teams also split the 26 faceoffs with Tony Cruz winning 11 for CNU and Nick Mandros adding the final two victories. Cruz eventually collected four ground balls during the game, while six other Captains added two apiece.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday when the squad heads to Southern Virginia for a 3 p.m. showdown.
 
---CNU---