NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport scored two goals in a span of five minutes during the first half on Saturday night, leading the Captains to the first win over a nationally-ranked program under the direction of head coach
Justin Chezem. The Captains defeated 11th-ranked Mary Washington (7-2-2, 2-1-0) in front of an excellent crowd on a brisk Fall evening at Captains Field.
With the team's third straight win, the Captains improved to 6-1-3 overall and 3-0-0 in conference play.
The Captains looked well at home against one of the nation's top defenses coming into Saturday's contest. The Eagles ranked 10th nationally in goals-against average and had allowed just four goals all season in ten games played. In the first half, Christopher Newport took nine shots and scored twice against the vaunted defense.
The first score would come courtesy of a terrific bit of ball-handling by rookie midfielder
Colin McMunn. With the ball bouncing around waist level, McMunn was able to get a touch inside of his defender on the right side of the field. With a pair of Eagles split, junior
Justin Wilson sprinted between them and McMunn placed a perfect pass for his teammate inside the box. Wilson found the angle and slipped a shot under the sprawling Mary Washington keeper into the left side of the goal.
The score would hold up as Wilson's second gamewinner of the season and fourth goal overall. He has continued to be deadly accurate, putting 16 of his 26 total shots on frame for a 61.5% on-goal percentage. McMunn tacked on his second helper of the season with the assist.
Just minutes later, the Captains were awarded a free kick inside midfield that was taken by senior
Derek Cook. His ball reached the middle of the box and found the head of
Davis Pillow who's pass bounded toward the goal. The Mary Washington goalkeeper got his hands on it, but could not hold onto the pass and
Ethan Larson quickly slotted in a shot for the second goal of the game.
With a 2-0 lead in hand, the Captains withstood an uptick in intensity from the Mary Washington attack. Early in the second half, senior goalkeeper
Justin Piercy made a diving save on a hard shot from Ben Ahrens headed for the right side of the goal. With just over 16 minutes remaining, a dangerous play started by Josh Kirkland with a shot that got behind Piercy. Noah Mazzatenta battled with
Khari Jones for a touch to the post, but Jones recovered brilliantly and managed to heel flick the ball off the line before it could enter the Captains goal.
The Captains held the Eagles empty on nine shots with just three attempts on frame. It was the fifth shutout of the season for the Christopher Newport defense and the third solo shutout for Piercy, who lowered his goals-against average to 0.67 on the season with the clean sheet.
Christopher Newport will be back in action on Wednesday, October 9 as they host St. Mary's (Md.) in conference action at Captains Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm against the Seahawks.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
