NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After a dominating 3-0 performance last week that included outscoring opponents 14-0, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team moved up in the national rankings ahead of a Wednesday night matchup at 7:00 pm. The Captains (11-1-0, 4-0-0) will host Salisbury University (5-7-1, 2-2-0) in Capital Athletic Conference action for their final home regular season game of the season.
The Captains held their positioning at No. 13 in the D3soccer.com Top 25, but moved up to No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches National Rankings. The USC South Atlantic Regional Rankings were also released Tuesday, with CNU moving up two spots to No. 4 in the region.
For fans unable to attend, a live video webcast and live stats will be available at CNUsports.com. Links can be found on the women's soccer schedule.
Christopher Newport will look to extend a 15-game winning streak in conference games as well as a 30-game unbeaten streak extending back to the 2015 season. Salisbury is the only team to hold the Captains to a draw in that stretch, battling to a 1-1 draw in the 2016 season during the last matchup at Captains Field.
This season, the Captains have posted a 4-0 mark in conference play including a pair of wins last week over Southern Virginia and York (Pa.). Led by back-to-back CAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Riley Cook, the Captains offense has continued it's torrid season averaging 3.33 goals per game. CNU has scored 40 goals this season, led by Cook and
Gabby Gillis' 12 each. Cook leads the league with 30 points, becoming just the second player in program history to score 30 points in each of her first two seasons, while Gillis is just two points behind her sophomore teammate with another stellar campaign in her senior season.
Sophomore
Maxine Borris is tied for the league lead with seven assists and is tied for fourth on the team in scoring. Junior
Carson Pokorny, one of the program's all-time leaders in assists, has added a pair while scoring four goals of her own to round out the double-figure scorers this season for CNU with 10 points.
Defensively, the Captains are equally as formidable, holding opponents to just seven goals scored through the first 12 games for a goals-against average of 0.58. Sophomore
Haley Eiser has done the lion's share of the work in goal, saving 81.8% of shots on-goal while posting three solo shutouts of six total clean sheets.
Salisbury has scored just 17 goals this season with junior Julianna Boller leading the team with four tallies. Lydia Narum ranks second on the team with five points on one goal and three assists, while three players, including two rookies, have four points so far this season. A pair of goalkeepers have split time this season with rookie Regan Benton starting eight of the 13 games played. Benton has a 1.9 goals-against average with a .735 save percentage.
Following Wednesday night's matchup, the Captains will close the regular season with a pair of road games starting with a trip to Mary Washington on Saturday, October 20. Kickoff againist the Eagles is set for 1:00 pm.