While Christopher Newport looks forward to the return of intercollegiate competitions, our friends at TowneBank are partnering with CNUsports.com to spend some time throughout the fall semester looking back at a few of the more memorable moments in the storied history of the athletic department. Over the course of the next three months, the Captains will honor the anniversary of three dozen record-setting accomplishments, championship-clinching victories, and other historic events in order to celebrate the past while preparing for even more great moments in the future.

AT A GLANCE
Setting the stage for the entire athletic department to post what was, at the time, the finest year in Christopher Newport University history, the 2009 men's soccer team made history not only as an individual program but for the whole of the Captains athletic program. On October 13, 2009, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (now known as the United Soccer Coaches) tabbed head coach Steve Shaw's well-rounded squad of footballers at the top of their weekly national rankings. With the number one national designation, the Captains became the first Christopher Newport team in any sport to become the top-ranked team in the nation.
 
BACKSTORY
Establishing themselves as one of the top Division III men's soccer programs in the nation after the 2008 season, the Captains won a program-record 17 games, captured the USA South Athletic Conference Regular Season championship outright, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in Shaw's tenure. For most of that season, a huge contingent of veterans, including All-Region senior stars Bryan Davis, Brian Tweed, and Kyle Allan, made their mark on one of the best seasons in program history. But as the year waned, the freshman class positioned themselves to become the most successful four-year reign at Captains Field. 

In the final game of 2008, taking on eventual national champion Messiah College, the Captains picked up a pair of red cards to play down two men. Of the nine players remaining on the field at the end of the game, six were freshman. CNU took the lead, and held on before a flukey goal in the final minute tied things up for the Falcons, and then the Cinderella season would come to an end in double overtime as Messiah won, 2-1.

In a year where fans might think losing three All-Region players and ten seniors to graduation could cripple the growth of CNU soccer, nothing could have been further from the truth. Shaw reloaded. The Captains reloaded. And from the very start of the 2009 campaign, they came out firing.
 
THE PATH TO NO. 1
During the record-breaking 2008 season, the Captains never registered higher than 19^th in the regular season national rankings. After the run to the national quarterfinals, the coaches vaulted Christopher Newport all the way to eighth in the final poll and that is where they would start the 2009 season with a young, but battle-tested group returning to the pitch.

Despite the loss of six double-digit scorers from the 2008 campaign, the offense was steadied by the breakout of future three-time All-American forward Winston Mattheisen. As a freshman, Mattheisen opened a Hall of Fame career as Conference Rookie of the Year and a first team All-Conference forward. A punishing finisher at the top of the attack, Mattheisen led the team in scoring again in 2009 with 27 points on 12 goals and three assists.
 
He anchored a sophomore class that also included second-leading scorer Nao Masuda, who would go on to score a program-record seven game-winning goals in 2009 as an All-Region star for the Captains. The second-year group also included another future Hall of Famer in midfielder Brian Lybert. An artist with the ball at his feet, Lybert surged to the forefront of the dominating attack in 2009 with 22 points on six goals and 10 assists. He would later go on to twice capture Player of the Year honors in the conference while also collecting two All-American certificates.
 
Matt Tengs was a three-time first team All-Conference goalkeeper heading into 2009 but an electrifying performance by rookie phenom Justin Wolfe in the 2008 playoffs was enough to supplant Tengs as the starter. Head coach Steve Shaw made the risky switch before the opening round due to a small injury to the veteran. After breezing past Drew in the first round and 15^th ranked Richard Stockton in the second, Shaw decided to stick with the hot hand and allowed Wolfe to finish out the rest of the year as the starter. The young netminder helped shut out fourth-ranked Emory in the Sweet 16 and managed a valiant effort in a 2-1 overtime loss in the round of eight against 8^th-ranked Messiah.

Defensively, All-Conference veteran Kevin Greenberg anchored a back line that included sophomore sweeper David Haas and newcomer Sean Moriarty. The freshman stepped in immediately as he began building a Hall of Fame career of his own, starting all 23 games he played during the year.
 
In the early stages of the season, the Captains picked up right where they left off after the deepest postseason run in program history. CNU raced out to a 3-0 start to set the stage for a rematch against No. 1 Messiah on a neutral field September 11. Lybert connected with Mattheisen for the game's first goal early in the second half, but the Falcons managed an equalizer with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. In double overtime, Wolfe made his seventh save against the defending champs, but Danny Thompson rebounded with a second shot for the game-winning goal.
 
The result not what they wanted, but the battle proof positive that the Captains belonged. Just ten months prior, it was the same Messiah squad that ended CNU's magical run in the postseason, also in double overtime. Voters would be forced to recognize that the Newport News-based program was more than just a flash in the pan – they could compete with anyone, any time.
 
Christopher Newport dropped to 6^th in the NSCAA Top 25 on September 15, but following the setback the Captains put together one of the finest stretches of winning soccer in program history with nine straight wins from September 12-October 14. During the run, CNU outscored opponents 18-5 while blitzing out to a record 12-1-0 start. CNU dispatched of Baldwin-Wallace (3-1), Marietta (1-0), Roanoke (2-1), and Piedmont (2-1) in regulation to start the streak.
 
A key moment came early in a September 30 battle with cross-water rival Virginia Wesleyan when Wolfe was sent off with a red card in the first half. Tengs played hero, stepping in as the Captains picked off a 2-1 overtime win against the Marlins and then again on the road against the third-ranked Spartans of York College (Pa.). Playing in front of a sell-out crowd of nearly 1,600 on the road, Tengs made three saves including a game-saving play in the 51^st minute to help secure the shutout.
 
With Wolfe back in the fold following the nationally-ranked bout, the Captains won, 2-1, at N.C. Wesleyan, and 1-0 against Methodist to open conference action. That would put the team at 11-1-0 ahead of the October 13 release of the NSCAA Top 25 rankings. Having methodically climbed from sixth to fourth to third to second in the four weeks prior, the Captains were poised for their shot at the top spot. Messiah opened the door with what would prove to be their lone loss of the season, 2-0, against  the very same York squad the Captains had just defeated.
 
For the voters, a no-brainer. Christopher Newport was number one.
 
POSTSCRIPT
As mentioned, the 2009 version of the Captains featured three on-field Hall of Famers in Mattheisen, Lybert, and Moriarty. There is certainly an argument to be made for Wolfe, who is possibly the finest goalkeeper the Captains have ever had. In 2009, the sophomore GK echoed his impressive first year performance in the NCAA Tournament with yet another astounding showing in his second attempt. The Captains won the team's first ever conference championship and then advanced to the national quarterfinals for the second straight year primarily on the back of Wolfe's heroics.
 
During a five-game stretch of the 2009 postseason, Wolfe was forced to participate in four penalty kick shootouts. He "won" three of them. Though he will never be credited with the wins statistically, he allowed only seven of 13 attempts to get by him in the three shootout wins. That, simply put, is a remarkable accomplishment. Experts suggest anywhere from 75-80 percent of shots are made in PK shootouts and Wolfe turned away nearly half (46.2%) in those three postseason games.
 
During the season-opening streak that led to the Captains becoming the first team in any sport to earn a national ranking of number one, Christopher Newport never trailed. CNU either led or was tied for the duration of the first 13 games and a span of over 1,190 minutes of action. 

Since October 13, 2009, three more teams have logged time as the nation's top-ranked team in their respective sport. CNU Baseball was pegged No. 1 during the 2011 season and was followed in order by CNU Volleyball in 2012 and CNU Softball in 2019. Shaw and the men's soccer program also picked up the top billing again in 2010 and 2011. 
 
Mattheisen collected second team All-American plaudits in 2009 to headline the record-breaking season. He became just the second Captain ever and the first since 1986 to collect All-American honors. It would set him on pace to become the first ever three-time All-American for the Captains; he also was named the USA South Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
 
He was one of four NSCAA All-Region selections as Wolfe, Greenberg, and Masuda all collected second team honors.
 
With the spotlight shining on Christopher Newport soccer, the Captains would go on to shatter program records with five straight NCAA Tournament appearances including three postseason dances to the sectional championship round. The 2010 Captains, featuring almost the entire roster back, would win 20 games in a record that still stands today.

For a full listing of the fall 2020 features published to date, click here.