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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- In another contentious battle in Capital Athletic Conference play, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team scored an early goal and held on to win the regular season finale against Salisbury University on Wednesday night. Justin Wilson scored his team-leading third game-winning goal of the season as Christopher Newport improved to 12-2-3 overall and 9-1-0 in conference play. 

With the loss, Salisbury falls to 9-8-1 overall and 4-6-0 in conference play. Tournament seeding was finalized after Wednesday's final day of the regular season with Christopher Newport set to host next week's CAC Semifinal against either #4 York (Pa.) or #5 Salisbury. The two teams will play in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 pm at York. 

The matchup on Wednesday night was played on a warm, wet night at Captains Field and was a physical bout from the get-go. On the defensive end, the Christopher Newport back line did a terrific job holding Salisbury without an attempt for the first 45 minutes and then restricted the Sea Gulls to just three total shots on goal for the game. Senior goalkeeper Justin Piercy made three stops in net for the Captains to preserve the clean sheet with an ever-rotating defense in Wednesday night's contest. Only Davis Pillow played the full 90 minutes in front of him. 

Christopher Newport scored early when senior captain Derek Cook received a short goal kick from Piercy and started moving up field. With plenty of space, he surveyed the field in front of him and then blasted a long pass from well inside the Captains' half of the field. Will Collins leaped and flicked a header pass toward Wilson, who chested the ball to his feet and then tucked in a perfectly slotted shot under the goalkeeper and into the right side of the netting. The goal came in the 16th minute of action and would hold up as the game-winning strike. 

Cook added to his team-leading scoring total with his sixth assist of the season out of the back while Wilson and Collins are now each tied for third on the team in scoring with 12 points. The junior forward has now picked up the winning goal in three contests this season while Collins ranks second on the team in helpers with four. 

After taking the lead, the Captains teetered back-and-forth with the Sea Gulls as each team vied for possession. Lincoln Kickbush put a header on frame that Salisbury keeper Gabe Dunn needed to dive to save, but aside from that, quality chances on net were limited throughout the contest. A tremendous defensive play by Daniel Hulett stymied the Sea Gulls best opportunity of the night as Quincy Tyler was loose in the middle of the field with 16 minutes remaining, but Hulett tracked back and made a beautiful tackle from behind before Tyler could get a shot off. 

The Captains will now shift it's focus to the conference tournament where they will play as the top-seed for the third time in the last four seasons. Christopher Newport will await the winner of the opening round matchup and will host that team on Wednesday, November 6 at 7:30 pm in the CAC Semifinals. 

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