NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Top-seeded Christopher Newport (15-1-0) women's soccer will host #5-seeded Salisbury University (7-9-1) in the Capital Athletic Conference Semifinals on Wednesday night with kickoff slated for 6:00 pm. Ahead of the matchup, the CNU women's soccer team continued to climb in the national rankings this week, as the Captains are now tabbed No. 11 in the D3soccer.com Top 25 and No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches Week 8 Poll.
The two teams are meeting in the CAC Tournament for just the second time since Christopher Newport joined the league in 2013. It was in that inaugural season that the Captains earned a 3-1 win over the Sea Gulls in the semifinals for their only postseason pairing. Overall, the Captains own a 13-5-2 advantage in the all-time series, including a 2-0 win at home earlier this season.
The winning team on Wednesday night will face the advancing team from the other semifinal matchup between #6-St. Mary's (Md.) and #2-Mary Washington. The championship game will be played at the site of the highest seed remaining on Saturday, November 3.
Ticket prices to Wednesday night's semifinal round are $5 for adults and $3 for children. CNU Students will be admitted free with a valid student ID. The game will be played at Captains Field, with live stats and a live video webcast available for fans unable to attend the game in person.
Coming into their 17th game of the season, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team is dangerous on both sides of the ball. With just nine goals allowed in 1447 minutes, the Captains feature the lowest goals-against average in program history (0.56); on the offensive end, CNU has scored 10.12 points per game, ranking second best all-time.
Leading the charge has been sophomore
Riley Cook, who became just the second player in program history to score 40 points in a single season this year. She has a league-leading 42 points on 18 goals and six assists to lead the way, while senior
Gabby Gillis is also threatening the 40-point plateau with 15 goals and 7 assists for a career-best 37 points. Sophomore
Maxine Borris is on a historical tear facilitating the offense, registering an assist in a record seven straight games while leading the conference with 11 total helpers.
In the regular season matchup between the two teams, CNU won, 2-0, at Captains Field, with a goal in each half. Sophomore
Maddie Cochran notched the game-winning goal early in the contest before Cook notched an insurance tally in the 75th minute. CNU outshot Salisbury, 26-11, including a 15-6 edge in shots on-goal.
The Sea Gulls advanced to the semifinals via a 3-2 overtime victory at Frostburg State behind a stellar performance from Brooke Rossiter. Rossiter scored twice, including the overtime winner, to lead the Sea Gulls to their seventh win of the season. Junior Julianna Boller leads the offense with seven goals and 14 points this season, while Rossiter now ranks second with two goals and three assists for seven points.
