FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The 10th-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team survived a marathon battle in dramatic fashion on Sunday evening as the Captains opened up Capital Athletic Conference action with a 2-1 shootout victory over Mary Washington at the Battleground Turf Field.
 
Fighting to a 1-1 draw after 90 grueling minutes, including a pair of overtime sessions, the Captains eventually prevailed. During the shootout, Courtney Fiest kicked off the scoring with a strike before Rachael Allshouse converted her attempt as well. Meanwhile, on the defensive side, Olivia Davis blanked the Eagles as the junior goalkeeper withstood all four UMW attempts to lock up the victory.
 
The game marked Christopher Newport's first shootout win in six years. The Captains last such triumph came against Catholic on October 17, 2012. In fact, prior to Fiest's strike against Mary Washington, the last Captain to convert a shootout attempt was Marlene Lichty, who was on the sidelines on Sunday in her fifth year as an assistant coach with the program.
 
With the win, CNU improves to 6-1 on the season, including 1-0 in the CAC. The setback snaps Mary Washington's four-game winning streak and drops the Eagles to 6-3 with an 0-1 ledger against league foes.
 
After the two teams were unable to settle the contest during 70 minutes of regulation and 20 additional minutes of sudden-victory action, they engaged in a shootout. Kicking things off, Davis stopped Mary Washington's first attempt, while Fiest put the Captains on the board with a dagger on CNU's initial shot. Looking to keep the advantage, Davis shrugged off UMW's next two tries before Allshouse put a stranglehold on the competition with a dart of her own to snatch a 2-0 lead.
 
Needing just one more stop, Davis came through again as she ended the shootout with a clean slate after withstanding Mary Washington's final attempt to lock up the win.
 
With that effort, Davis became the first goalkeeper in program history to register a scoreless performance during a shootout session. Jamie Dowling stopped four of five attempts against Catholic in 2012, while Samantha Pelstring stoned three of four in a win over Rhodes on October 15, 2005.
 
Prior to the late-game heroics, both squads engaged in a back-and-forth slugfest during the first 90 minutes. Mary Washington opened the scoring in the 18th minute, but Christopher Newport responded. Picking up the pressure, Kennedy Johnson laced a shot that trickled wide in the 23rd minute before the Captains earned a corner a few moments later. Looking for the equalizer, Jackie Kotoriy inserted the ball before Allshouse redirected a dart off Fiest's stick, which evened the score at one.
 
After halftime, Mary Washington challenged the CNU defense, but the Captains were up to the task. Although Fiest and Nyla Lewis were able to uncork shots for Christopher Newport, the hosts controlled the early part of the second half. Eventually, the Eagles earned four early corner attempts but came away empty-handed. Brittan Muir and the rest of the corner crew suffocated three tries before a shot could be taken, while Davis knocked away the other attempt to keep the game knotted at one.
 
Looking to respond on the other end, Allshouse blistered the Eagles with three straight shots during a rapid-fire assault. Minutes later, Fiest lined another on-target attempt before Allshouse punched two more towards the cage, but Mary Washington's goalie came through with five straight saves towards the end of regulation to keep the Captains in check.
 
Following the CNU onslaught, the Eagles called for a timeout with just minutes remaining. Settling back in during the break, Mary Washington eventually came back with one final scoring opportunity in the 67th minute, but Davis walled off the cage once again to force overtime.
 
Picking up where they left off, the Eagles earned two corners in the opening minutes of the first bonus session, but Davis made a pair of saves, while a third attempt whistled wide. Later, after Davis came through with her third straight stop, Bailey Miller checked in, flipped the field, and smacked Christopher Newport's first shot in overtime, but it was turned away at the last minute.
 
Following Miller's lead, CNU picked up the pressure on the offensive side. In the final few seconds of the first overtime period, Fiest laced a shot that just missed the mark before Ariana Samuel unloaded two attempts. Unfortunately, her first was blocked by a defender before her second try was stoned by the keeper.
 
With another fresh 10 minutes tossed on the scoreboard, Courtnie Greene kicked off the second overtime period with a laser that was knocked away by the UMW goalie. Meanwhile, on the other side, Mary Washington had a shot run wide before Davis made her sixth save of the game to quiet another scoring opportunity. Later, after a penalty corner, the Eagles had their final shot blocked by the CNU defense to force the shootout.
 
Fortunately, behind Davis' suffocating showcase and conversions by Fiest and Allshouse, Christopher Newport walked away from the marathon with its sixth win of the year.
 
Incredibly, four Captains played all 90 minutes during the lengthy battle. In addition to Davis' efforts between the pipes, Muir, Fiest, and Rachel Cooke put their endurance on full display.
 
Overall, Christopher Newport out-shot Mary Washington, 17-12, while the Eagles held an 11-5 edge in corners. In the cage, Jessica Cavolt finished with 10 saves for UMW, and Davis added six stops to secure the victory for the Captains.
 
CNU will return to action on Wednesday when the squad hosts Lynchburg at 6 p.m.
 
---CNU---