NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing on a chilly fall evening with some spritzing rain in and out of the contest, the 21st-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team held serve at home on Wednesday night with a 3-1 victory over St. Mary's College of Maryland (8-3-1, 2-2-0). The Captains got one goal in the first and two more in the second half to pull away from the Seahawks and improved to 7-1-3 overall this season with a perfect 4-0-0 start to conference play.
Facing the league's top scoring offense, the Christopher Newport defense was up to the task throughout the game, especially in the first half. The Captains held league-leading scorer Khalid Balogun and the rest of the Seahawks without a shot in the first 45 minutes, marking the first time this season they had been held without an attempt in an entire half.
Leading the charge defensively were seniors
Derek Cook and
Khari Jones, and juniors
Davis Pillow and
Daniel Hulett. Rookie
Jacob Dudley also slotted in at outside back to help keep the torrid attack at bay.
On the other end of the field, the Captains opened the scoring with a first-half goal from
Cory Hogge on a nice combination passing play. Hogge started the action at the top of the box before dumping off a pass to the right and crashing down the center of the box. His pass found
Sam Dickinson who lofted a picture-perfect lob to the head of
Lincoln Kickbush for a flick back toward Hogge. With no one in front of him, Hogge smashed a volley into the back of the net for the game-opening goal in the 36th minute of action.
The lead would be erased early in the second half when St. Mary's got a long ball played down the left side from Josh McRobie. Balogun raced onsides and had no one to beat when he unloaded a missile past the Captains keeper for the tying goal. It was his 13th goal of the season, ranking in the top ten nationally.
Despite the goal, the Captains defense did not allow the momentum to shift as the back line did not allow another shot before the Christopher Newport offense re-took the lead. That moment came with the eventual game-winning goal in the 66th minute on another terrific combination between
Will Collins and Kickbush. Collins started the play at the top of the box with a pass toward the goal line and Kickbush raced to the ball to lob a pass back across the middle head-high for Collins. The sophomore forward leaped and headed home the shot for his third goal of the year and first game-winning strike.
Just over ten minutes of game action later, the Captains tacked on what felt to be a pivotal insurance tally.
Derek Cook blasted a long ball out of the Christopher Newport half toward the box and the first bounce caught the St. Mary's goalkeeper off guard. It skied his head and rookie
Kobe Smith raced past him to get a touch into the goal with his chest for the score.
The Captains have now won four straight games and are unbeaten in the last six while outscoring opponents 11-2 in that stretch. Kickbush's two assists pushed him back to the top of the scoring chart for the Captains with 12 points on 5 goals and 2 assists while Cook tacked on his team-leading fifth helper of the year in the win.
Christopher Newport will hit the road for three straight starting with a road trip to Salisbury University on Saturday, October 12. Kickoff against the Sea Gulls is set for 2:00 pm.
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