GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Hitting the road for the first time in 2019, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team remained undefeated with a hard-fought 3-2 win at Gettysburg College (1-2-0) on Saturday afternoon. The Captains got a pair of penalty kick goals from
Derek Cook and the gamewinner from sophomore
Lincoln Kickbush to round out the scoring.
Christopher Newport improved to 3-0-0 on the season with the win as Kickbush netted his first career gamewinner. Both teams took 12 shots with a combined 14 on-frame in the contest.
The scoring started when Gettysburg opened the contest with a penalty kick goal in the 17th minute. It was just over four minutes later when the Captains evened the score on a penalty kick goal of their own from
Derek Cook in the 21st minute. His conversion was the 15th consecutive made penalty kick for the Captains, dating back to the 2016 season.
The teams entered halftime with the score locked at one goal apiece, but Cook would make it 16 straight the Captains when he stepped up to the spot and buried his second PK goal of the afternoon in the 58th minute of action. Again, the lead would not hold for either team as the battle swayed back in favor of the home team when Oladayo Thomas stole the ball from his defender and slipped a low shot into the right corner less than a minute later.
The score tied at 2-2, senior goalkeeper
Justin Piercy made a pair of saves in the 63rd and 64th minutes to hold the tie. Then, in the 82nd minute, the Captains found Kickbush for the game-winning goal. Coming off the bench, the sophomore has scored a pair of goals in just four shots attempted this season.
Piercy locked down a career-high six saves in the win, improving to 3-0-0.
Cory Hogge and Cooke led the way with a pair of shots on-goal, while Hogge finished with a team-best three attempts from the field.
Christopher Newport will next travel to San Antonio, Texas to face 9th-ranked Trinity University (Texas) on Friday, September 13 at 8:00 pm. The Captains will also take on Hardin-Simmons University during their trip to the Lone Star state next weekend, with kickoff slated for 8:00 pm on Saturday, September 14 against the Cowboys.
