NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Adding another win to their program-record season-opening roll, the fourth-ranked Christopher Newport blitzed past Salisbury University (5-8-2) on Wednesday night by a final score of 7-1. Six different CNU players scored in the contest with Riley Cook picking up a pair and Molly Beegle scoring the game-winning goal. 

The Captains improved to 12-0-0 and are now one of only two teams in Division III to remain undefeated this late in the year. The University of Scranton (13-0-0), Division II's Lee University (11-0-0), and the top-ranked Seminoles of Florida State University (14-0-0) from Division I are the only teams other than Christopher Newport to have unblemished records to this point. 

The Captains put on a passing showcase, logging eight assists with a team-high three coming off the foot of Emily Talotta. The CNU attack put on relentless pressure against Salisbury throughout the night, outshooting the visiting Sea Gulls by a final count of 29-6. 

CNU would waste no time taking an early lead in the match as Cook scored her first of two goals in the contest less than five minutes in. After the Captains worked the ball around the back line, junior defender Jill McDonald booted a long pass up the left side to her senior leader. Cook, with a defender on her back, trapped the ball to herself and then blew by the Sea Gulls last player back. After a touch into the box, Cook fired a missile with her left foot into the right pocket of the goal. 

The Captains threatened multiple times over the next 20 minutes but the second scoring strike would not come until the 27th minute of action. With just under 19 minutes remaining in the first half, Nyah Savage started a play down the left side of the field with a superb pass through the defense to Talotta. Streaking into the box with Beegle to her right, Talotta reached the ball first, slid a pass across to her attacking forward and Beegle slammed home the attempt. 

The goal would stand up as the eventual game-winning goal, marking her second straight winning tally. Beegle has now put 10 of her 16 shots on frame this season with five tickling the twine for scoring strikes. 

After establishing a 2-0 lead at halftime, the Captains quickly added to their advantage in the second half. Less than a minute into the second stanza, Talotta added a goal to her ledger off a pass from defender Sarah Rhiel. The Captains right back got a nice pass back from Sarah Smith and then Rhiel worked through contact in the box before lifting a nice pas to the back post for Talotta and the one-touch score. The goal stands as the fastest recorded to start a period so far this season as it came just 49 seconds after the halftime intermission ended. 

In the 54th minute, the Captains bench erupted when Savage converted her first career goal off a pair of beautiful passes from Smith and Talotta. With a defender closing in, Talotta reached out to poke a pass ahead for Smith, who quickly tapped back for Savage. A gaping hole opened in the Salisbury defense and the sophomore defender raced into the box before connecting on a shot into the right side under the diving goalkeeper. 

Just under four minutes later, Cook tacked on her second goal of the night and 78th of her career. Jessica Zimmermann played a ball ahead to Cook, who spun and ripped a top-shelf tally with her left foot from the middle of the box. With the score, Cook registered her 17th career multi-goal performance. Second on the list of multi-score games are Emma O'Reilly and Victoria Perry with 11 apiece. 

Cook's second goal gave the Captains a 5-0 advantage, but the Captains were not finished. Talotta capped her impressive performance with her career-high-tying third assist in the 64th minute of play. She took the ball a long way from the near sideline at midfield into Salisbury territory across the field; when she finally drew a second defender, she slipped a pass ahead to Emma Ricci who was found all alone with room to run. The sophomore forward raced into the box and smashed home her third goal of the season off the nice feed. 

With a goal and three assists, Talotta matched her career-high with five points scored in a match. She also surged into the team lead for assists with six on the season while record her 18th career helper. In just two seasons, Talotta has moved up into a tie for 7th in career assists matching Allie McWilliams, Carly Utterback, and Amanda Peters in CNU lore. 

Salisbury got on the board in the 84th minute when Tayah Rendina scored on a penalty kick. The score was just the fourth allowed by the Captains this season and ended a three-match shutout streak. 

Just as quickly as they gave a goal away, the Captains got one back for the final differential of six goals. Abby Pogreba challenged the Sea Gulls goalkeeper with a hard shot in the box that rebounded right to the foot of Anna Bookstaver. The rookie forward knocked home her first career goal with the follow and punctuated the 7-1 scoring night for the Captains. 

Christopher Newport has now recorded six straight multi-goal performances as the offense is outscoring opponents 40-4 through 12 games this season. 

The Captains will return to action on Sunday, October 24 in a neutral site matchup against Piedmont College. CNU will provide live stats of the game played in Greensboro, N.C. with kickoff slated for 3:00 pm.