FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- After Tropical Storm Hermine shortened the weekend schedule to just one game for the Christopher Newport women's soccer team, the Captains (1-0-0) will be back in action on Tuesday evening as they travel to face former conference foe Methodist University (0-1-0). Game time is set for 5:00 pm in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where CNU has not played since leaving the USA South Athletic Conference in 2013.
Live stats and live video are scheduled for the matchup, with links to both found at CNUsports.com.
Like the Captains, the Monarchs also fell victim to the weather, getting just one game in before Salisbury cancelled the second day of their home tournament. In their first game, Methodist fell, 4-2, to Stevenson University in a neutral site contest. CNU opened with a flourish, cruising past Austin College by a final score of 7-0. Against Methodist, CNU owns a 14-6-4 advantage in the all-time series, including a 1-0 victory last season.
In the season opener, six different Captains scored goals, including three rookies making their collegiate debuts. Freshman forward
Carson Pokorny had the best day, scoring two goals and adding an assist for a 5-point game against the Roos.
Keiley McCarthy and
Kyra Locklear also netted scores for the Captains in their first career appearances.
Also looking in mid-season form already was senior
Victoria Perry, continuing her ascent as one of the Captains' elite all-time players. With a goal and three assists in the opener, Perry moved into second all-time in career assists (22), and into the top five all-time in career scoring (82 pts). She is now tied with Emily Renkin ('07) for fourth in career points and, with an entire season in front of her, trails number two on the list, Ashleigh Dota ('06) by just six points.
Defensively, the CNU unit was stellar against Austin College, allowing just two total attempts in the game. Junior
Carly Maglio registered her seventh career shutout, making both saves for a solid start to the year.
On the other side of the ball Tuesday night will be a Monarchs squad that piled up 13 wins last season and reached the conference championship game. Methodist's biggest adjustment heading into 2016 will be replacing senior goalkeeper Taylor Ross, who started all but one game last season and posted an impressive 0.59 goals against average. Offensively, the Monarchs return four of their five leading scorers, including a pair that led the team with 16 total points in sophomore Capri Clark and junior Jasmine Newman.
Newman scored one of MU's goals in the first game, and led the team in total attempts with seven shots in the Salisbury tournament. Miranda Cowardin also converted on a tally, but the Monarchs' defense gave up four goals to the Mustangs to suffer their first loss of the season.
The mid-week action will be followed up by the Captains' first two games at home this weekend. CNU will host the 2016 Captains Classic, welcoming in Carnegie Mellon University on Friday, September 9 and Wheaton College (Ill.) on Saturday, September 10.
