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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Lighting up the scoreboard with a well-balanced assault, the Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team saw 12 different players register at least one point and six Captains notch multi-goal efforts as CNU stormed past Virginia Wesleyan, 18-1, during a wet Wednesday evening at Captains Field.
Playing through a light drizzle, the conditions never slowed down the Captains.
Sasha Towne led the way with four points, including a pair of goals.
Sarah Culver also contributed a hat-trick, while
Zoe Dyer chipped in with three points as well.
Julia Golden also stuffed the stat sheet with seven draw controls, three points, and two caused turnovers.
Suffocating the opposition on the defensive side as well,
Sam Wettengel forced four turnovers to go along with a pair of goals, while
Gracie Sanders caused three miscues and snatched four ground balls. Between the pipes,
Kaitlyn Ready earned the victory with five saves.
With the win, Christopher Newport improves to 1-3 on the season. The setback drops Virginia Wesleyan to 1-2.
Right from the start, Dyer set the tone. Less than a minute into the contest, the freshman looped a pass over the crease to Wettengel, who burned in for the first goal. Less than 30 seconds later, after taking a hit on the interior, Dyer found the back of the net herself after burying a free-position attempt to grab a 2-0 lead.
Continuing the rapid-fire assault, Culver split two defenders on the way to her first goal before
Katie Orrison rolled past a wall of Marlins just seconds later to push the lead to four. Finding their rhythm, Culver and
Cat Leighty converted back-to-back eight-meter shots before
Victoria Betterly added a dart of her own to grab a commanding 7-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the contest.
Just as effective on the defensive end, Wettengel and Golden both caused turnovers to smother a pair of VWU rallies, while Ready made two saves, including a gorgeous pluck on an eight-meter shot. The junior goalkeeper also caused a miscue during another sustained rally by the Marlins to keep the visitors quiet.
Looking to earn a running clock, Golden fed inside to Orrison, who jammed home her second strike, before Sanders shook a defender with a tremendous spin move on the way to the squad's ninth goal in the 14th minute of action. Although the Marlins momentarily stole back some momentum with their first goal, Towne retaliated. Pushing the lead to double-digits, the senior assisted on a strike by Golden before snapping off an eight-meter missile to earn an 11-1 lead.
Remaining hot on the offensive side, Culver completed her hat-trick with 10 minutes remaining in the first half before the squad put its youth on display to cap off the period. Sophomore
Madison Callan wiggled free on the interior before capitalizing on a pass from Betterly. Later, as time expired, freshman
Jackie Baker flashed her moves and slid through a horde of defenders on the way to her first collegiate goal.
Leading 14-1 at the break, the Captains quietly eased into the victory in the second half. After scoring exactly 18 goals against the Marlins during their previous three match-ups, the hosts had a little more work to do over the final 30 minutes.
Kicking off the second half in style, Dyer converted another free-position attempt just three minutes into the stanza. Still poking at the Virginia Wesleyan defense,
Alexis Kasuda slipped a feed through a tight window to Wettengel, who chipped in with her second goal. Less than two minutes later, Sanders took advantage of a feed from Towne to push the lead to 17-1.
Fittingly, Towne finished off the evening after unloading a sidewinder into the back of the cage to lock up the 18-1 victory.
Overall, Christopher Newport out-shot Virginia Wesleyan, 34-8, and held a 24-13 edge in ground balls. CNU also controlled 15 of the game's 20 draws. Along with Golden's seven draw controls, Wettengel came through with four, while Sanders and Culver had two apiece. With her pair, Culver reached 100 for her career, becoming just the ninth Captain to attain that mark.
The Captains will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts Shenandoah at 1 p.m.
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