NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The United Soccer Coaches released it's latest national rankings on Tuesday afternoon, picking the Christopher Newport women's soccer team as the third-ranked team in the nation. The highest national ranking in program history comes ahead of the Captains' mid-week non-conference finale on Wednesday as they welcome in the University of Lynchburg for a 6:00 pm kick.

Christopher Newport had been ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation prior to Tuesday's release, picking up that ranking at the end of the 2018 season. That designation carried over into this season where the Captains have sat for each of the first two regular season polls of the season. On Tuesday, the team made history by moving up one slot behind top-ranked Messiah College (6-1-0) and second-ranked Middlebury (5-0-1) in Poll 3 of the NCAA Division III National Rankings. 

Impressing the voters with their strong start to the season, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team tacked on two more shutout victories against non-conference opponents last week. The Captains improved to 7-0-1 overall this season following wins against Mary Hardin-Baylor and then-ranked Trinity (Texas). Also after the victories, Christopher Newport swept the conference weekly awards with Riley Cook being named Player of the Week and Lulu Manley capturing Defensive Player of the Week plaudits. 

On Wednesday, the Captains will look to close out non-conference action with another challenging matchup. Christopher Newport will face the University of Lynchburg at 6:00 pm on Captains Field where the two teams did battle in the NCAA Division III National Quarterfinals last season. That game snapped a three-game skid in the all-time series as it ended 1-0 in favor of the home team to propel the Captains to the program's first ever NCAA National Semifinals. 

This year, Lynchburg has started the season with a 4-2-0 overall record and is coming off a 1-0 win at Piedmont on Sunday, September 15. The Hornets suffered a double overtime loss at Emory, 3-2, on September 14 and a 2-0 loss to 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins to start the year. Lynchburg has wins against Mount St. Mary (NY), Maryville, and Kalamazoo. 

So far this season, a dominant defense has been the driving force behind the Captains' success. Christopher Newport has allowed just one goal in the first eight game to rank third nationally in goals-against average with a 0.156 mark. After two more clean sheets last week, the Captains now have seven shutouts in eight games played this year. 

Offensively, Cook has continued her stellar career into her third season. This week, she became the program's all-time leading goal scorer and became just the third player in program history to eclipse 100 points in her career. She is just two points shy of the Christopher Newport scoring title and leads the squad this season with 17 points on 8 goals and 1 assist. Newcomers Emily Talotta and Sarah Rhiel have each recorded 8 points in their first season with the Captains and 18 different players have logged at least one point so far this year for Christopher Newport. 

Lynchburg has been led by senior Alyssa Rudy with 7 points on 3 goals and 1 assist. In goal, Caitlin Dorsch has started all six games and has a 1.41 goals against average for the Hornets. 

For fans who can not attend the game live, live stats and a video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com. Following the action, the Captains will turn it's focus to conference play, which begins Saturday at home against York College of Pennsylvania. Kickoff against the Spartans is set for 5:00 pm. 

 

NATIONAL - POLL 3 - SEPTEMBER 24, 2019

Rank	School	Prev	W-L-T
1	Messiah College	2	6-1-0
2	Middlebury College	3	5-0-1
3	Christopher Newport University	4	7-0-1
4	William Smith College	1	4-1-1
5	Johns Hopkins University	6	7-1-1
6	Washington University (Mo.)	9	7-1-1
7	The College of New Jersey	10	6-1-0
8	Wheaton College (Ill.)	5	7-1-0
9	Pomona-Pitzer Colleges	11	6-0-1
10	Case Western Reserve University	13	7-0-0
11	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	17	6-1-1
12	University of St. Thomas	8	5-1-0
13	Arcadia University	19	8-0-1
14	Centre College	14	9-0-0
15	University Of Chicago	20	5-1-0
16	Tufts University	NR	5-1-0
17	SUNY Geneseo	NR	6-2-0
18	Claremont-McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges	21	5-0-1
19	Dickinson College	NR	5-0-2
20	University of Rochester	NR	5-1-0
21	Connecticut College	NR	6-0-0
22	Otterbein University	24	5-1-1
23	Wartburg College	22	6-1-1
24	Amherst College	7	5-1-0
25	Emory University	RV	4-1-0

Records shown are through games of Sept. 22, 2019

Also receiving votes: Williams College, Misericordia University, Wesleyan University, Swarthmore College, University Of Puget Sound, University of Lynchburg, Stevens Institute Of Technology, New York University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Trinity University (Texas), College of Wooster