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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Junior Stephen Durbin put together a masterful performance to lead the Christopher Newport men's soccer team to a dominating 8-0 victory in Capital Athletic Conference action on Saturday, breezing by Wesley College at home. The Captains improved to 7-2-0, 2-0-0 as Durbin factored into each of the first four goals, including a hat trick. 

Durbin recorded the 41st hat trick in program history and the first for the Captains since 2015 when Patrick Burns scored three against Virginia Wesleyan on September 4. He added an assist to his performance, finishing with seven points to tie for the ninth best scoring effort in program history. 

The Captains dropped Wesley to 2-9-0 overall and 0-2-0 in league play with the victory. CNU picked up their sixth straight win and continued to showcase the impressive offensive effort, now averaging 4.11 goals per game. 

The first two goals were scored just 31 seconds apart, as Durbin connected on the gamewinner just 14:01 into the contest, and Andrew Gogolin added the second goal a half-minute later. CNU goalkeeper Zach Pedini punted the ball deep into the Wolverines zone where it bounced over the last line of defense for Durbin. One-on-one with the goalkeeper, he blistered a hard shot into the left side for the goal. On the ensuing whistle, the Captains got another assist from the defense as Derek Cook launched a long pass to the top of the box where Durbin flicked a short pass to Gogolin at the top of the box. The senior midfielder volleyed a rocket shot into the netting for the score. 

CNU would tack on two more goals over the next three minutes as Durbin took credit for both. For the third straight goal, a defender picked up an assist as junior Bobby Seifert lofted the defense for the third goal, where Durbin beat the keeper again. Then, it was Daniel Zeitoun who set up Durbin for his hat trick-defining score. 

After about eight minutes of game action, CNU lit up the scoreboard again when leading scorer Jimmy Grace flicked a pass onsides for James Lee, who hammered a hard shot into the top shelf of the goal. The Captains would tack on one more in the first half, opening up a 6-0 advantage when Noah Peizer converted on a through ball from Zachary Ballard. It was the first of two assists for Ballard. 

CNU outshot Wesley, 18-0, in the first half, including putting 12 shots on-goal. The defense would shut out the Wolverines defense for the game by not allowing a single shot to their conference foe. In total, the Captains held a 30-0 advantage in the final shot column. A long line of defenders played a part in the shutout, shared by Pedini and second-half keeper Ethan McGrath. 

Hunter Johnson and Justin Wilson converted on second-half goals for the final tally, 8-0. Johnson picked up his first goal of the season on an assist by Ballard, and Wilson headed home the final goal of the contest on a set piece taken by Teig Lesko. 

Christopher Newport will host Southern Virginia University on Wednesday, October 4 at 7:00 pm. Live stats and live video will be available at CNUsports.com/live.