NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team advanced to the Capital Athletic Conference semifinals for the second straight season after upending Southern Virginia, 14-8, during a wild first-round slugfest on a cloud-covered Wednesday evening at Captains Turf Field.
 
In a game that featured 14 penalties, including a dozen on the Knights, the Captains kept their composure and out-lasted Southern Virginia in a brutal postseason battle. Ryan Mills led the attack with six points, including five goals. Will Geise, who established a new program record with his 66th career appearance on Wednesday, also added six points for the hosts.
 
Dominant in all facets of the game, Tony Cruz won 16 of his 23 faceoffs and chipped in with two points, including his first collegiate goal. The junior workhorse also won his 500th career faceoff during the game, joining former standout Ari Elgort as the only Captains to reach that benchmark. Meanwhile, Jake O'Connell also shined as a two-way player, posting two points to go along with a pair of ground balls and another bruising effort on the squad's clearing unit.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 11-5 on the season and runs its home winning streak to 10 straight games, marking the fifth-longest active roll in the nation. The Captains also advance to the CAC semifinals for a date at No. 5 York (Pa.) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
 
The setback ends Southern Virginia's season at 6-9.
 
From the start, CNU jumped on the visitors with an explosive attack. Mills took charge early, scoring the game's first two goals after ripping a shot from the far side of the field before jamming one home from the doorstep off a quick feed from Geise. Moments later, after a save by Matt Hayden, O'Connell flashed his wheels and went coast-to-coast on the clear before punctuating his run with a bullet from the near side to stretch the lead to 3-0.
 
Equally dominant on the defensive end, Conor James forced a turnover to thwart an SVU run before Trevor Royce bullied a Knight off his mark to prevent a shot along the right pipe. Later, Hayden made a tremendous pointblank save to stop another surge before the attack went back to work.
 
After the Knights committed three penalties on one play, Geise converted the huge man-advantage with a dart off a feed from Jacob Hale. Later, following Southern Virginia's first strike, Mills cut around the right pipe to sting his third goal before Cruz capped off the first quarter with the perfect punctuation mark.
 
Continuing his domination at the 'X,' the third-year star won his sixth faceoff of the period after flipping the ball back to Max Fitzgerald. After a clean release, Cruz burst up the field before Fitzgerald dished the ball back to him. Looking to capitalize, he laced a screamer on the run to notch his first collegiate strike.
 
Holding a 6-1 lead, Christopher Newport pieced together a solid effort on the defensive side to keep the Knights quiet. After filling in on the next faceoff, Corey Hart caught up to the Knight's FOGO and dropped the hammer from behind to force a high shot. Later, Hayden won a race to a roller to gain possession and added a ridiculous kick save just before the horn sounded at the end of the first quarter.
 
Keeping the run going in the second stanza, Lee Parkhill opened the new quarter with a great ride to prevent a shot. Hayden also intercepted a pass along the crease, Drew Cornell swatted the stick right out of an attacker's hands, and Royce blew up a play as well to continue bullying the Knights.
 
Although Southern Virginia managed to survive the pressure and tacked on a pair of goals to chip the deficit down to 6-3, Matthew Crist responded with a blazing assault.
 
With three minutes left in the first half, the junior caught the defense in a switch at the top of the zone before whistling a one-timer for his first strike. Seven seconds later, following a clean faceoff win by Cruz, he added another tally after going low-to-high with a bullet to push the lead to 8-3.
 
His seven-second surge equaled the fastest consecutive goals by a single player in program history, matching Geise's outburst against Virginia Wesleyan earlier this year.
 
Unfortunately, Southern Virginia began to find its groove. The Knights added a goal at the end of the second stanza before striking again early in the third quarter to inch within three at 8-5. Although Hayden came back with two straight saves, including an acrobatic stop off his knee, SVU continued to attack. Following a goal by Shane McKenna, the visitors strung together two straight tallies to cut CNU's lead down to 9-7 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
 
With tempers beginning to flare, Southern Virginia was hit with two more penalties before CNU delivered some pain. Unafraid of a physical battle, Cornell stripped a Knight with a textbook check before Geise converted on the other end. Moments later, O'Connell lowered his shoulder and blew up a play before clearing the zone and finding Geise for his third goal of the game to close out the period with an 11-7 advantage.
 
With frustration mounting on the SVU side, the Captains converted on a pair of early penalties in the fourth to stretch their lead. Mills added a man-up dart following a fast feed from Geise to open the quarter. Minutes later, Geise added a dagger of his own after juking the goalie with a perfect dip and dodge to snatch a 13-7 lead with seven minutes remaining.
 
Later, with the Knights trying to flash their muscle, a defender attempted to lower his shoulder on Randy Foster but simply bounced off the All-American before Mills capitalized on the doorstep to help close out the 14-8 victory.
 
Overall, Christopher Newport held a 50-32 advantage in shots and a 36-25 lead in ground balls. The Captains also won 16 of the game's 24 faceoffs and converted half of their extra-man opportunities. Cruz came through with a game-high eight ground balls to go along with his 16 faceoff victories, while Hayden and Cornell added five rollers apiece. Hayden also finished with 11 saves, and Cornell forced four turnovers to anchor the defense.
 
---CNU---