FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- With a 6:00 pm kickoff on Wednesday afternoon, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team is set to makeup one of the four postponed games from earlier this season, taking on Methodist University on the road. The Captains (6-1-0) will take on the host Monarchs (5-3-0) at the Monarch Soccerplex for their seventh game away from home in their first eight contests.
In advance of Wednesday's matchup on the road, the Captains slipped in the national rankings after going 1-1 last week. The United Soccer Coaches Poll listed CNU as No. 21 this week, a drop of 10 spots from the previous rankings. The D3soccer.com Top 25 only dropped the Captains six spots, to No. 15 nationally.
Christopher Newport is coming off an overtime victory in their first home game of the season last Saturday as they defeated Penn State Harrisburg, 2-1. The come-from-behind win was highlighted by goals from junior
Carson Pokorny, tying the game in the second half, and
Riley Cook, with her eighth career game-winning goal in just her 25th career game.
Cook has helped lead the potent CNU offense, ranking second on the team in scoring with 14 points on 6 goals and 2 assists. The only Captain ahead of her is league-leading scorer
Gabby Gillis, with 7 goals and 4 assists for 18 points. Pokorny rounds out the top three with two goals and two assists for 6 points, while the Captains feature six different goal scorers in their first seven games.
Defensively, CNU has a 0.85 goals-against average this season with a pair of shutouts. The Captains have allowed just six goals in seven games, with
Shaye Doherty,
Keiley McCarthy, and
Lulu Manley doing the bulk of the work on the back line.
Haley Eiser and
Maddy Belanger have split time in goal, with the veteran Belanger coming away with the key conference win in relief on Saturday night.
Methodist endured a lengthy school closing due to the impact of Hurricane Florence after opening the year 4-2. Since returning, the Monarchs split USA South matches on Saturday and Tuesday, including a 4-0 victory over William Peace the day before meeting the Captains. Haley Bowles leads the offense with four goals and two assists for 10 points, while Sierra Swasey has added three goals for six points. Bella Nunu also has six points, tied for the team lead with two assists while adding a pair of goals.
Fans who can not attend the game live on Wednesday will have the option of following live stats or watching a live video stream online. Links to both can be found on the women's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com.
Following the non-conference matchup, the CNU women will return to league action this Saturday at Frostburg State University for a 3:00 pm kickoff.
