NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Despite Randy Foster's third straight hat-trick and another dominant defensive effort by Brandon Moloney, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team dropped its regular season finale as CNU fell to seventh-ranked York (Pa.), 11-6, on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Captains Turf Field.
 
Against the Spartans, Foster came through with three first-half strikes, which helped CNU enter the break holding a 5-4 advantage. Moloney also forced four turnovers and grabbed seven ground balls, but York used a second-half surge, including four straight goals in the third quarter, to secure the victory.
 
With the setback, Christopher Newport falls to 12-4 on the season including 6-2 in the CAC. York (Pa.) improves to 14-3 overall with a 7-1 mark in league action. The Captains enter the postseason as the league's No. 3 seed and will host Southern Virginia on Tuesday in a first-round matchup. The winner of that contest will advance to the semifinals for a showdown at York on Saturday.
 
Although the Spartans opened the scoring early in the contest, the Captains responded on both sides of the field. First, Thomas Courtney stood tall and blocked a shot with his body before Moloney leaped on the ground ball and cleared the zone. Moments later, Shane McKenna slipped a backside pass to Ryan Mills, who landed the equalizer from the doorstep to even the score at one.
 
Continuing their success on both sides of the field, Michael Mabry broke up a centering feed before Matt Hayden grabbed the roller and bulled through a wall of defenders with some nifty maneuvering to flip the field. Once again, the attack capitalized as Foster slung a dart through York's back line to grab a 2-1 edge at the end of the first quarter.
 
Retaliating in the second stanza, the Spartans drove home three straight goals to open the new period and nail down a 4-2 lead before CNU settled in again. Hayden stood up against a ferocious onslaught to make three straight saves, including a spectacular stop on a pointblank blast. Later, Drew Cornell hustled to the near sideline to win possession back after a deflected shot, which gave the Captains a chance to chip away at the deficit.
 
With just over five minutes remaining, Foster pulled the squad within one after firing another screamer on the run. Later, after Harrison Drier dropped the hammer on a Spartan and forced a turnover, Matthew Crist came through with one of the finest goals of the year to knot the score at four.
 
After Joey Rolando found himself isolated one-on-one behind the crease, he fired a pass to Crist, who settled in the center of the zone. Leaping to make the catch, the sophomore made an acrobatic move to hold onto the ball while rolling to his left. Stunned by the stick skills, three defenders eased up for a split second before Crist made them pay. Facing a tough angle and a wall of Spartans, he blistered a dart through the back line that whistled past the right ear of YCP's goalie to even things at 4-4.
 
Shortly after their fourth goal, the Captains struck again. This time, Moloney put pressure on the far sidelines to force an errant pass, which Will Geise scooped up and cleared. After calling a timeout, CNU drew up the perfect play as Foster found himself free at the top of the zone before capitalizing on a feed from Dave Magdeburger to give the squad a 5-4 lead entering halftime.
 
Following the break, Hayden made two early saves to quiet the Spartans, while Christopher Albright scorched the turf with a quick clear to give the CNU attack an early opportunity. Unfortunately, the Captains came away empty-handed before York retaliated.
 
Capitalizing on a relentless attack and sustained possession throughout much of the third quarter, the visitors flipped a one-goal deficit into an 8-5 lead following four straight strikes.
 
Needing a quick response, Tony Cruz got Christopher Newport off on the right foot in the fourth. On the opening faceoff, he won the battle cleanly and pushed the ball forward. After picking up the roller, the sophomore standout shoveled the ball to Geise, who snapped off a tracer from the far side of the field to pull CNU back within two at 8-6.
 
Later, Moloney gave the Captains another opportunity after forcing a turnover with a great takeaway check on a cutback attempt. Unfortunately, the hosts came away empty-handed again before YCP responded. Eventually, the visitors tossed back-to-back goals on the board to steal a 10-6 edge early in the quarter before tacking on some insurance with minutes remaining to lock up the 11-6 triumph.
 
Overall, York held a 39-29 edge in shots and a slim 30-29 lead in ground balls. Meanwhile, Cruz won 12 of his 20 faceoff attempts, while Hayden contributed 13 saves.
 
---CNU---