NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With a 3-0 win at home over Salisbury University (7-10-1) in Wednesday night's Capital Athletic Conference Semifinals, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team advanced to the team's third straight championship game. Sophomore Riley Cook scored twice in a historic performance as the second-year forward continues to re-write the record book for CNU women's soccer. The Captains improved to 16-1-0 on the season with the win. 

With just one swing of her left foot on Wednesday night, the league's leading scorer etched her name atop a pair of single season scoring records at CNU: most points scored and most goals. With her 19^th goal of the season, Cook continued her red-hot second season making history for the Captains, becoming the first player to register 19 goals in a single year. It was also the first goal of the match and held up as her ninth game-winning goal, adding to her standard set earlier this season. Most impressively, the score also set a new single season scoring record with 44 points.
 
After scoring the goal in the 20th minute, off an assist from Maddie Cochran, Cook surpassed the previous single season scoring record set by CNU Athletics Hall of Famer Sam Ciaravino in 2010 with 43 points. The sophomore forward would go on to add a second goal later in the match, and increased her record-breaking season total to 46 points on 20 goals and 6 assists. She became just the eighth player in CAC history to register 20 goals in a season and ranks 7th all-time in league scoring. 

Cook's first goal came after a nice play by Cochran, stealing the ball from Salisbury and slotting a hard roller to the left side of the box for her classmate. One touch by Cook downfield was followed by a missile into the back of the net for the eventual game-winning goal. 

Just minutes later, Salisbury nearly evened the score on a nice ball out of the back line into the box, but sophomore goalkeeper Haley Eiser came out to meet the shot attempt on the right side of the field. Eiser made a sprawling save on a hard shot in the box to keep the Sea Gulls off the board. 

CNU notched the second goal of the game in the 34th minute when Abby Harrigan started the play from the Captains side of midfield. A long pass down the right side led Hailey Price enough to get a step on her defender. After her first cross attempt was blocked, she recovered and sent a second ball into the box where fellow rookie Kristina Toms was able to power through her defender and earn an open look into the left side of the goal for her seventh goal of the season. 

The Captains outshot the Sea Gulls, 14-2, in the first half, including a 9-2 advantage in shots on-goal. With a 2-0 lead, the Captains offense continued to control the action after the break and tacked on an insurance goal in the 73rd minute of play. Senior leader Gabby Gillis worked her way through a pair of defenders and found Cook open at the top of the box. Cook turned and fired a bullet top shelf over the outstretched hands of the Salisbury goalkeeper for her second goal of the match. Gillis registered her eighth assist of the year and is also closing in on the 40-point plateau with a career-best 38 points this season. 

In addition to her record-breaking performance, Cook added another game to her sensational streak of games with at least one point. The sophomore has now scored at least one point in each of CNU's 11 straight wins, while also scoring a goal in six straight contests. That roll matches the program record for consecutive games with a goal. 

CNU will now host Mary Washington on Saturday, November 3 at 6:00 pm with the league championship on the line. The winning team will secure the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.