NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Captains Field will play host to it's second Top-15 opponent in the last three games on Saturday night as the Christopher Newport men's soccer team welcomes in 11th-ranked Mary Washington (7-1-2, 2-0-0) for Capital Athletic Conference action at 7:30 pm.
The Captains are 5-1-3 overall with a 2-0-0 start to conference play after a 2-0 win at Southern Virginia on Tuesday evening. Sophomore
Lincoln Kickbush scored both goals against the Knights to take over the team's scoring lead with 10 points this year.
Christopher Newport owns a slight 23-19-4 advantage in the all-time series against Mary Washington, dating back to the 1977 season.
Under the direction of first-year head coach
Justin Chezem, the Captains have just one loss in the first nine games played. The Christopher Newport offense has scored 18 goals while holding opponents to just seven goals this season. The offense has been led by Kickbush's five goals while junior
Justin Wilson has added three goals and one assist for 7 points this year.
Defensively, senior
Derek Cook has anchored the back line while also being a factor offensively as well. He has scored three goals and registered three assists for nine points to rank second on the team. Also on the back line has been
Davis Pillow,
Khari Jones,
Daniel Hulett, and
Jacob Dudley.
Mary Washington enters Saturday's contest ranked 11th in the coaches poll and are ranked 10th in the D3soccer.com top-25. The Eagles have just one loss this season when they succumbed to 6th-ranked Washington & Lee in double-overtime, 1-0. The Captains also faced the Generals, capturing a 1-1 draw against the ranked program.
The Eagles have been led offensively by senior Gabriel Soriano with four goals and five assists for 13 total points. Junior Jeremy Hokenson and rookie Josh Kirkland have each scored three goals for Mary Washington. The defense has been very stingy, allowing just four goals in the first ten games this season for a 0.39 goals-against average. Junior goalkeeper Ken Kurtz has startedd all 10 games and has played all but 12 minutes so far with an 86.7% save percentage.
For fans who can not attend the game live at Captains Field, a live video webcast and live stats will be presented online courtesy of the Christopher Newport Department of Athletics. Links can be found on the men's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com.
Following Saturday's doubleheader against Mary Washington, the Captains' men's team will stay at home for a Wednesday night matchup against St. Mary's (Md.) on October 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
