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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With a pair of three-goal halves, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team screamed past their former conference rivals from North Carolina Wesleyan (1-2-0), shutting out the Battling Bishops in a 6-0 victory. The Captains improved to 3-0 on the young season and continued to showcase tremendous depth with five different goal scorers in the game. 

After finishing the 2015 season with the second fewest goals scored in program history, the tune has changed slightly in Newport News this season. Through the first three games of the 2016 schedule, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team has made a rather loud statement offensively, outscoring opponents 15-2. The 6-0 tally matched the largest margin of victory against the Bishops since 1996, when the Captains dominated for an 8-0 victory.

Sophomore Stephen Durbin would light up the scoreboard first, and then very quickly again for a second goal. Just 6:48 into the contest, Durbin connected after a beautiful combination play set up his open look in the box. Senior Patrick Burns backed down his defender just outside the box on the right side, and classmate Jimmy Grace rolled a textbook pass to his inside foot. A quick flick toward the middle and the one-touch pass found Durbin, who delivered a low bouncer into the left side of the goal. 

Just 29 seconds later, the Captains were celebrating again, when Zachary Ballard slipped a pass into the right side of the box and Durbin punched home an replay of his first goal, under the sliding goalkeeper. The 29-second differential between goals is a program record for fastest consecutive goals scored by the same player, and ranks 14th all-time in NCAA Division III. 

With a talented N.C. Wesleyan offense threatening to cut into the lead, the Captains added some breathing room in the 29th minute of play, when Burns connected with his second goal of the year.  Senior defender Harry Nodwell lobbed a pass over the defense and toward the goalkeeper on the left side, where Burns raced to get a first touch. After beating the keeper, he poked it home for the goal as CNU took a 3-0 lead. 

Carrying the three-goal edge into halftime, the Captains relentless offense was outshooting the Bishops by a count of 14-5. Sophomore Zach Pedini was relatively untested in the opening stanza, forced to make just two saves. 

In the second half, both offenses continued to pressure the ball downfield. CNU cashed in on the fourth goal of the game when Grace found Andrew Gogolin at the corner of the box on the left side. With a hesitation dribble and some fancy footwork, Gogolin got loose toward the middle of the box and placed a perfect shot into the right side of the cage. 

With a four-goal lead, head coach Steve Shaw went to the reserves, but the offense would not let up. In the final six minutes of action, the Captains converted on two more goals for the final score of 6-0. First, Ballard dribbled up the right side toward the end line and earned his second assist of the night when he slipped a centering pass off a defender to Hunter Johnson, who powered home his first career goal. He slammed home the shot from the top of the 6-yard box, beating the diving NC Wesleyan keeper to the right. Then, in the 90th minute, Hunter Simons and Michael Wilson connected on a picture perfect one-timer, as Simons played a long cross right to the back post, where Wilson hammered home his first career goal. 

With Johnson and Wilson getting on the season docket, the Captains have now featured 11 goal scorers with 15 goals on the year. At the end of last season, only 10 different players had registered goals for Shaw's squad. 

The Captains outshot N.C. Wesleyan 24-12, including a 10-5 advantage in shots on goal. Pedini made two more saves in the second half to secure his second shutout of the year, lowering his goals against average to 0.37 after three games. 

The best chance for the Bishops came on a free kick just outside the box, when Baboucarr Njie blistered a line drive shot around the wall and Pedini was forced to dive to his left to make the save. 

The Captains will carry their three-game winning streak into their first road game of the season this weekend, as CNU travels to face cross-water rival Virginia Wesleyan College on Saturday, September 10 at 7:00 pm

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