MANASSAS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport men's soccer team scored an early goal and rookie goalkeeper Gabe Barros made sure it held up as the Captains (6-3-2) shut down 5th-ranked Johns Hopkins University on a neutral field Wednesday afternoon, 2-0. CNU handed the Blue Jays their first loss of the season, falling to 9-1-2 with the shutout loss. 

Barros made his first collegiate start for Christopher Newport and stopped five shots to preserve the clean sheet. The sophomore from Jeffersonton, Va. kept the potent Hopkins attack at bay with four saves in the first half and one important grab in the second. 

In the first half, the Blue Jays were awarded a free kick from about 19 yards out on the right side and Centennial Player of the Week Ian Whamond stepped up to take the shot. Whamond smashed a heater on frame headed for the top of the goal but Barros leaped up and punched the ball away. Minutes later, another free kick ricocheted to the top of the box for Logan Falzarano, who laced a low liner toward the left and Barros smothered the shot. 

Those two attempts came as equalizer tries after the Captains got on the board first early in the match. Taking on the talented three-back system employed by Hopkins, the CNU attack applied plenty of pressure early in the match. Just over five minutes into the bout, Will Collins ripped a hard shot from point blank range that was turned away by the Blue Jays keeper, Xander LeFevre. 

Just under a minute later, the eventual game-winning goal would find the back of the net. Doing a bulk of the work to set up the shot in the left corner was Cory Hogge. Taking on two defenders, Hogge showed off fancy footwork to get loose and loft a long ball to the back post. There, Colin McMunn elevated against his defender and arced a shot over the keeper and into the left side of the goal. 

The score came just 6:12 into the match and would hold up as the winner. McMunn's second goal of the year came on Hogge's first helper. 

Adding an insurance tally in the second half, the Captains converted a penalty kick try in the 73rd minute. Junior Owen Burnett was taken down in the box and the Blue Jays were whistled for the foul. Stepping in to drill the PK try was Harry Whittleton, putting the Captains ahead 2-0. 

As JHU tried to cut into the lead late in the match, Barros needed to make one more save to close out the shutout. In the 86th minute, Falzarano headed a shot toward the goal that Barros covered for his fifth stop of the match. 

CNU outshot the Blue Jays, 9-6 overall, while Hopkins held a slight 5-3 edge in shots on goal. 

The Captains will stay on the road for the next two matches, starting with a road trip to Salisbury University on Saturday, October 16 at 2:00 pm.