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LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Three first-half goals and an insurance tally in the second stanza led the Christopher Newport men's soccer team to a 4-2 victory on the road Wednesday night, as the Captains downed Randolph College (6-3-0) in the non-conference finale. Junior Zachary Ballard led the way for the Captains (6-2-0) with the a goal and an assist on the game-winner. 

With the win, the Captains have picked up five straight victories, including four away from home. CNU outshot the WildCats on Wednesday by a final tally of 17-3 and raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first half. 

The first goal would come in the 17th minute of action when defender Davis Pillow scored after a flurry of CNU attempts were near misses. First, Daniel Zeitoun fired one high, followed by a shot from Jimmy Grace that hit the post. Under a minute and a half later, Andrew Maeso had one attempt blocked and then another saved off the line by a defender to keep the board clean. The Randolph defense couldn't hold on any longer, however, when Pillow converted his third goal of the season to put CNU on the board. 

In the 34th minute, Ballard picked up his first goal of the year to push the lead to 2-0. Then, just over four minutes later, the junior midfielder set up the eventual game-winning tally. Sophomore Jordan Boone started the play up the right side and slipped a pass toward the goal line for Ballard. He raced to save the ball from going out, turned, and rolled a pass right back to Boone for the finish. From the top of the box on the right side, Boone powered home the shot into the left side of the goal. 

Just before the end of the half, a CNU own goal would cut the lead back to two, 3-1, when the ball was played in off a Captains defender. The lead would turn back to three quickly into the second half when senior Andrew Gogolin converted on his fourth goal of the season to make it 4-1.

The home team would cut the lead again on a header from Brian Higgins off an assist by Evan Blow in the 70th minute, but the CNU defense held the rest of the way. The back line of Pillow, Bobby Seifert, Derek Cook, and Zach Douglass allowed just three total shots in the game. 

The Captains will return to action on Saturday at Noon as they host Wesley College in Capital Athletic Conference play. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com/live