Live Stats // Video Stream
SALISBURY, Md. -- Continuing a recent trend, the 13th-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team will battle No. 3 Salisbury for conference supremacy as the two programs will meet for the third straight year in the Capital Athletic Conference Championship, which begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium.
Entering the title bout, the Captains sit at 14-4 overall after posting a 2-1 win against St. Mary's (Md.) in the semifinals on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Salisbury is 17-1 following a 3-0 triumph over York (Pa.) in the other semifinal match-up.
For those fans unable to attend the championship game, Salisbury will provide live stats and a video stream of the action at SUSeaGulls.com. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
Kicking off postseason action against St. Mary's on Wednesday,
Abby Asuncion opened the scoring early in the first quarter before assisting on
Courtney Fiest's tally in the third period. The freshman standout, who was named the CAC Rookie of the Year on Thursday, now holds the single-season program record with seven game-winning strikes. She also owns the freshman record for goals with 14, while her 29 points are tied for the most in school history by a first-year competitor.
Along with Asuncion,
Marcella Sabbagh also added a key defensive save against the Seahawks which helped keep the opposition at bay. That stop marked her sixth defensive save of the season, tying former All-American
Brittan Muir for the freshman record.
Among all conference competitors, Asuncion enters the weekend ranked second in goals, while Sabbagh is second in defensive saves. Meanwhile, among the team's veteran contributors,
Olivia Davis boasts a league-best .815 save percentage, while fellow senior
Bailey Miller is third with four defensive stops. Overall, the Captains lead the CAC and rank 15th nationally with a stellar .828 save percentage.
On the other side of the field, Salisbury boasts an equally impressive defensive unit. Led by CAC Defensive Player of the Year Jillian Hughes, SU ranks second in the nation in goals-against-average (0.52) and shutouts per game (0.65). Also strong on the offensive side, the squad is ninth in the NCAA in goals-per-game (3.71) while averaging 12.41 corners per contest, which stands as the fourth-best rate in the country.
On an individual level, CAC Offensive Player of the Year Arielle Johnston leads the conference with 10 assists and ranks second with 30 points. Mackenzie Mitchell also has 11 strikes, which places her third among league competitors. On the back end, Dom Farrance has a league-best 0.54 goals-against-average.
Christopher Newport last battled Salisbury on October 19 when the squad dropped a 2-1 double-overtime decision in Maryland. Asuncion opened the scoring just 28 seconds into regulation, but Johnston evened the game in the second quarter before Camryn Dennis came through with the clincher in the 77th minute.
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