DOVER, Del. -- Dominating in every facet of the game, the 20th-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team used a well-balanced effort to storm past Wesley, 20-10, during a Capital Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Drass Field.
 
Headlining CNU's offensive efforts, Joey Rolando erupted for five goals, while Will Geise contributed six points. Randy Foster also scored four times for the Captains, Harrison Drier registered his first career hat-trick, and Dave Magdeburger tacked on five points as well. Overall, eight different players found the back of the cage for Christopher Newport.
 
Meanwhile, on the defensive side, the Captains forced 12 turnovers, including four by Brandon Moloney. The squad's standout long-stick middie also collected six ground balls, while Tony Cruz won 21 of his 27 faceoffs.
 
Anchoring the back end, Matt Hayden nailed down eight saves to earn his 11th victory of the year. That stands as a new single-season program record, topping his own mark of 10 wins set as a freshman in 2014 and equaled as a sophomore in 2015.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 11-3 on the year, including 5-1 in league action. The setback drops Wesley to 4-11 overall and 0-7 against CAC foes.
 
Immediately after Wesley opened the scoring in the first two minutes of action, the Captains retaliated. On the ensuing faceoff, Drier grabbed the loose ball, stormed in, and peppered a shot inside the far post to even the score at one. Moments later, after Magdeburger drew the defense to the near side of the field, he threaded a gorgeous pass across the zone to Foster, who whistled a clean strike to the back of the net for a 2-1 edge.
 
Setting the tone on the defensive side as well, Michael Mabry used a bruising hit to force an off-balance shot, which Hayden quickly swallowed. Shortly thereafter, Moloney snuck into the passing lane and swatted down a feed before Christopher Albright grabbed the roller and cleared the zone.
 
Capping off the opening period in style, Foster rolled right past three defenders before driving home his second goal of the stanza. Later, Moloney forced another turnover, grabbed the ground ball, and used a spin move to shake his defender before clearing the defensive zone. Capitalizing on the other end, Drier hammered home another goal to push the lead to 4-1 entering the second period.
 
Continuing the onslaught, Foster sniped a rocket on the run to open up the new quarter before Rolando made Wesley pay for a penalty with a man-up goal to snare a 6-1 edge. Although the Wolverines retaliated with their finest run of the game to pull back within a pair midway through the quarter, Rolando responded.
 
In just over two minutes, the senior blistered the back of the cage with a pair of goals to grab an 8-4 lead. Later, following Wesley's fifth strike, Moloney joined the fun on the offensive end. After taking control at the top of the zone, he launched a dagger for his second career goal to nail down a 9-5 lead entering halftime.
 
Following the break, another long pole made his presence felt on the offensive side. After Geise and Ryan Mills crashed down on a clear attempt, William Gingerich found his opening. The sophomore slipped free on the near side and grabbed a pass before storming to the crease. With an advantage, he dunked a shot over Wesley's goalie for his first career strike.
 
After the defensive midfielders gave the squad some breathing room, the usual cast broke the game open. Mills, Geise, and Rolando teamed up on the next four goals to push the lead to 14-5. The final strike of that surge was an impressive showcase for Rolando as he found himself isolated one-on-one with a Wolverine. On the far side of the field, he rolled up, elevated, and fired a missile over his defender to grab the nine-goal advantage.
 
Following back-to-back tallies by Wesley, Cruz added a perfect punctuation mark to the third quarter. With 20 seconds left, he won a clean faceoff and quickly dished to Magdeburger, who capitalized for the team's 15th goal. Nine seconds later, after Cruz won another faceoff, Foster secured the ground ball and unleashed another bullet to lock down a 16-7 edge entering the final stanza.
 
With little left to prove, the Captains eased into the victory. Magdeburger came back with another tally in the fourth before Geise added a goal and an assist to cap off his afternoon. Later, Drier came through with the final nail after snapping off his third goal following a feed from Andrew Ashley to wrap up the win.
 
Overall, CNU held a 60-29 edge in shots and won 26 of the game's 34 faceoffs. Along with Cruz, Nick Mandros won four of his six battles. Mills also contributed five ground balls, while Drier and Foster collected four apiece.
 
Christopher Newport will be back in action on Wednesday when the squad heads to St. Mary's (Md.) for a 4 p.m. showdown.
 
---CNU---