NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Erasing nearly every assist record on the books, Matthew Crist pieced together a remarkable performance and finished the game with nine points, including six helpers, as the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team posted a 15-11 victory over St. Mary's (Md.) on a sun-splashed Wednesday afternoon at Captains Turf Field.
 
With his six helpers, Crist bumped his season total to 36, eclipsing John Thompson's previous school standard of 35 set in 2013. Meanwhile, his final helper also marked the 63rd of his career, which moved him past teammate Will Geise for the top spot in program history.
 
Additionally, Crist's nine total points equaled the school's single-game record, which was originally established by Andrew Evans in 2008 and matched twice this year by Geise. His six assists also tied the second-highest single-game total in program history, falling just one helper shy of matching the all-time record.
 
Along with Crist, Ryan Mills lit up the Seahawks with a game-high five goals, which marked a new personal-best for the senior standout. Randy Foster chipped in with four points as well and joined Geise as the only Captains in program history with 100 career goals after lacing the milestone strike in the fourth quarter to help thwart a St. Mary's comeback bid.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 10-4 on the season, including 5-2 in league action. The setback drops St. Mary's to 1-13 with a 1-6 ledger in CAC play.
 
From the outset, the Captains set the tone with a rapid-fire assault. Showing off the squad's quick strike capabilities, Tony Cruz won the opening faceoff cleanly and charged towards the crease. Pulling up, he dished to Crist, who found Geise along the right post for a dart from the doorstep. The strike, which landed just seven seconds into regulation, marked the second-fastest goal in program history, trailing a six-second opening tally against St. Mary's (Md.) two years ago.
 
Continuing to land blows, Crist pressured a clear attempt by the Seahawks, elevated, and plucked the ball out of the air before dishing to Mills for the squad's second goal. Moments later, Shane McKenna wrapped around the zone, curled around the back of the crease, and snapped off a close-range rocket for the third tally before Foster blistered his first goal to push the lead to 4-0 early in the opening quarter.
 
Following the offensive surge, the defense stepped up as well. Drew Cornell forced a turnover to clamp down on St. Mary's first response before Matt Hayden came through with a save off his facemask to stymie another run.
 
Later, Foster showed off his precision, lacing a pinpoint feed across the field to Mills, who slipped free, juked the goalie along the left pipe, and landed the fifth goal with five minutes left in the quarter.
 
Staring at a 5-0 deficit, the Seahawks began to chip away at their early hole. The squad added back-to-back goals to close out the first period and pull within three. Although Jacob Hale retaliated with a quick strike in the second stanza, SMC came through with two of the first three goals in the period to inch within two at 6-4.
 
Needing to clamp down on the resurgence, Christopher Newport whistled for a timeout and regrouped. Following the same script that worked on the first goal of the game, Cruz picked up the faceoff, dished off to Crist, who connected with Geise for another breakneck bullet on the way to a 7-4 edge.
 
After the offense extended the lead, the defense kept the Seahawks in check. Conor James, Will Cogan, and Trevor Royce all forced turnovers, while Hayden was a wall between the pipes, brushing off three straight shots during an electric, nine-minute defensive stand.
 
Finally, after Royce ended the final SMC threat and grabbed the roller, he jumpstarted a fast clear which culminated in a dart by Mills after Tristan Peschka found him on the move to secure an 8-4 lead.
 
After halftime, St. Mary's found its rhythm. The Seahawks tossed three straight goals on the board to chip its deficit down to one. Following the third strike, SMC earned a man-up situation and looked poised to even things at eight, but Christopher Newport stepped up. Killing off the penalty, Cruz won a crucial faceoff to gain possession. Later, after SMC forced a turnover, Geise and Crist tormented the clearing unit and prevented them from moving the ball out of the zone until the penalty expired.
 
Continuing the defensive work, James decked a Seahawk to force a turnover with five minutes left in the third before Mills converted on the other side after wrapping around the far post. Less than a minute later, after earning a man-up situation of their own, the Captains took advantage as Geise found Crist cutting through the zone on the way to a 10-7 lead.
 
Fighting back, the visitors tacked on two of the final three goals in the third quarter, sandwiching a CNU strike by Mills, to pull within two entering the fourth frame.
 
Keeping the momentum, the Seahawks struck early in the final stanza to sneak within one at 11-10 before the CNU attack unloaded. Pushing back against SMC's rally, Crist added two straight goals off feeds from Mills and Jake O'Connell. Later, he flashed his passing skills, setting up Foster's 100th career dagger and McKenna's second tally of the game to snatch a 15-10 lead with seven minutes remaining.
 
Facing more pushback from St. Mary's, the Captains surrendered a quick goal by the Seahawks before facing a litany of man-down situations. Getting hit with three penalties over the final few minutes, the squad's man-down unit stepped up with a huge rally.
 
Kicking off the final push, Scott McAneney took over in the crease for the first minute-long penalty and brushed aside a high rocket before stoning a line-drive shot straight through the zone to kill off the initial penalty. Later, Christopher Albright picked off a feed to clamp down on the next run before Josh Puterbaugh deflected a pass along the interior that Hayden gobbled up to finish off the third penalty and close out the four-goal triumph.
 
Overall, Christopher Newport held a 64-44 advantage in shots and a 47-23 lead in ground balls. Cruz led the way with eight rollers while continuing his domination at the "X" after winning 22 of 30 faceoffs. O'Connell and Albright also added five ground balls apiece. Meanwhile, Hayden finished with 14 saves to earn the victory, while Max Alderman came through with 30 stops for the Seahawks to single-handedly keep SMC in the game.
 
CNU will return to action on Saturday when the squad travels to No.3 York (Pa.) for the regular season finale at 1 p.m.
 
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