ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- Putting the program's youth on full display, three different freshmen scored a goal as the fifth-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team picked up its 10th straight victory with a 4-1 triumph over St. Mary's (Md.) during a Capital Athletic Conference contest on Thursday afternoon at Seahawk Stadium.
 
During the battle, Angelica Florendo and Ariana Samuel contributed their first career goals, while Jackie Kotoriy opened the scoring with her sixth strike of the season. Headlining the veteran portion of the roster, Courtnie Greene assisted on a pair of tallies, while Rachael Allshouse contributed her team-leading 13th goal of the year.
                          
With the win, Christopher Newport improves to 14-1 on the season, including 5-0 in league action. The setback drops St. Mary's (Md.) to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in CAC play.
 
Less than four minutes into regulation, Christopher Newport opened the scoring. Greene picked off a roller at midfield and blew through three defenders on a dead sprint up the field. After finding some open spaces, she fed the ball over to Kotoriy on the far side. With some room to work, the freshman got the SMC goalie to pull out of the cage before burying one inside the left pipe to snatch a 1-0 lead.
 
With an early advantage, the Captains kept the pressure on the St. Mary's defense. Courtney Fiest split two defenders and fired a rope towards the cage to earn the squad's first corner in the ninth minute. After that, Christopher Newport camped out in the circle and rarely left the offensive end.
 
In less than five minutes, CNU earned five straight corners. Rachel Cooke forced a pair, while Fiest drew three, including one after Carol Thompson cut off a clear attempt. Unfortunately, the Seahawks were steady on the defensive end. St. Mary's held up against the bruising attack to keep the deficit at one entering the middle of the opening period.
 
After the Captains controlled possession throughout the first 15 minutes, SMC pieced together a minor threat after Christopher Newport was issued a green card and forced to play 11-on-10 for two minutes. With an advantage, the Seahawks cleared midfield, but Mackenzie Neylon quickly broke up a restart along the far sideline. Shortly thereafter, Lily Bryngelson defended a long hit to gain possession momentarily before Alexa Weaver floated a high-arcing teardrop to flip the field.
 
After killing off the card, the CNU attack went right back to work. The Captains earned two straight corners, but both were turned away. Shrugging off the momentary setback, Greene put on a show. In the 26th minute, she grabbed control near the arc while facing a pair of defenders. Despite slipping to the grass after losing her footing, she never lost control. Still possessing the ball while on her knees, she popped right back up and took off towards the cage.
 
Splitting the two defenders, she came face-to-face with a third Seahawk along the right pipe before serving a roller over to Florendo, who quickly converted after tagging the back of the cage with her first career strike.
 
Staring at a two-goal deficit, St. Mary's attempted to respond in the latter moments of the half but failed to find a rhythm. Leading a dominant defensive stand, Allshouse deflected a pass, Kennedy Johnson dropped down to stone a roller along the arc, and Brittan Muir ran stride-for-stride with an attacker up the field to close off another rally, which kept the Seahawks scoreless entering halftime.
 
Following the break, the Captains continued to torment the SMC defense. In the early part of the second half, CNU earned two more corners. Once again, Fiest was at the center of the action, including a gorgeous one-on-one battle at the top of the arc. Off-balance with an out-stretched stick, she danced around a defender and pieced together a relentless effort until finally earning the corner
 
Although St. Mary's continued to handle the corner attempts, Christopher Newport never backed down. Greene exploded into the circle and earned another attempt before Cooke chipped a dribbler around two defenders and generated a second scoring opportunity. Later, Samuel bolted from end-to-end, tipped the ball around a pair of Seahawks, and forced another corner, but once again, SMC was up to the challenge.
 
Still struggling to crack the scoreboard, St. Mary's finally managed a pair of sustained offensive runs in the middle of the second half. The first rally was impeded by Allshouse, who intercepted a pass at the arc. Later, Weaver cleared a cross out of the circle before Cooke dropped her shoulder, bounced a midfielder, grabbed a dribbler, and sent it up the field to give the defense a break.
 
Shortly thereafter, in the 60th minute, a Seahawk broke loose inside the circle. All alone, Stephanie McKinney hit the grass, extended herself, and swallowed up SMC's first shot of the contest. Later, after the hosts earned a corner, McKinney added another tremendous stop as she kicked away a dart while battling through another attacker who planted herself in the senior's line of sight.
 
After the defensive stand, the Captains struck again. Greene picked off a pass along the circle and dished it to Samuel at midfield. Fighting off a defender, Samuel eventually pushed it to Bailey Miller, who stormed into the offensive end. Although the Seahawks eventually gained possession, Samuel came back with a vengeance.
 
Ruthless along the end line, the freshman took on two defenders, regained possession, and bullied her way towards the cage. Although her initial shot was turned away, she controlled the rebound and drilled another dagger that cut through the defense and gave CNU a 3-0 edge with eight minutes remaining.
 
Although St. Mary's retaliated and managed to score less than a minute later, Christopher Newport added the finishing touches in the 68th minute. Fittingly, the Captains closed things out after earning another corner. This time, Fiest settled the ball at the top of the arc and unloaded a screamer towards the cage. Following a kick save by SMC's goalie, Weaver pounced on the rebound and punched it towards the center of the circle where it was deflected perfectly by Allshouse to close out the 4-1 triumph.
 
Overall, Christopher Newport held a 33-4 advantage in shots and a 15-1 lead in corners. McKinney eventually finished with three saves to earn her 14th win of the season, while Alyssa Thompson made 17 stops for the Seahawks.
 
CNU will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts No. 16 York (Pa.) in the regular season finale at 6 p.m.
 
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