SALISBURY, Md. -- Suffering their first conference loss since the first game of the 2015 Capital Athletic Conference schedule, the third-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team took a 5-2 setback on the road Saturday afternoon at Salisbury University (9-2-2, 5-0-0). The Captains (11-1-2, 4-1-0) snapped a 13-game unbeaten streak to open the season with their first loss of the year.
In the conference matchup on the road, the Captains fell behind 2-0 at the half and 4-0 just minutes into the second stanza. The comeback bid was denied despite goals from
Riley Cook and
Ryanne Davidson in the final ten minutes of action as the home team tacked on an insurance score and held on for a 5-2 win.
The Sea Gulls got started with a goal in the ninth minute of action when Ally Goetz played a long ball to Julianna Boller who banked in a shot off the post for the first goal of the game. Anna Dimitriades scored in the 40th minute off a pass from Mallory Pasco to give the home team a 2-0 lead at the break.
Both teams managed five shots in the first half with Christopher Newport putting a pair on frame. The Captains also took five corner kicks compared to zero for the Sea Gulls.
In the second half, Salisbury scored twice in the first 2:18 as Brooke Rossiter scored on a penalty kick and Lydia Narum scored her seventh goal of the season off an assist by Boller.
Facing their largest deficit since trailing Johns Hopkins 4-0 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament Second Round, the Captains turned to their all-time scoring leader to get on the board. In the 84th minute,
Riley Cook ripped one by the Salisbury goalkeeper to stave off the shutout. It was her 17th goal of the season.
Just moments later, the lead was back to four as Tierney Crehan logged her first goal of the year to give the Sea Gulls a 5-1 advantage. Christopher Newport continued to push and
Ryanne Davidson scored an unassisted tally in the 89th minute for the final score.
The Captains outshot Salisbury, 8-3, in the second half with six shots on-goal. Emma Hill made six saves in net for the Sea Gulls. Christopher Newport held a 10-2 advantage in corner kicks and routinely had the ball in the attacking end of the field, but Salisbury capitalized on counter-attacks and finished from long distance on three of their five goals.
The loss ends a 37-game unbeaten streak against conference opponents dating back to October 3, 2015. It also snaps a 22-game winning streak against CAC opponents in the regular season.
Christopher Newport will look to shake off the loss and bounce back against St. Mary's (Md.) in their next game. The Captains will host the Seahawks on Wednesday, October 16 with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.
