NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Rounding out the regular season, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team picked up a 3-2 win over Salisbury University on Wednesday night. Winning on Senior Night, the Captains improved to 8-4-2 overall on a beautiful fall evening at Captains Field.

The match was a hard-fought battle from the start featuring plenty of back-and-forth action on both sides. Twenty-seven shots were taken and 36 fouls recorded as the two battled for postseason positioning in next week's Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. WIth the setback, Salisbury dropped to 6-7-1. 

Christopher Newport got on the board first in the 17th minute after Will Collins and Colin McMunn connected on an exquisite combination of passes in the right corner of the field. Facing a defender near the sideline, Collins dropped a pass back to McMunn, who one-touched the pass back to his senior teammate and sprinted toward the corner. After a split second hesitation, Collins rolled the ball back to McMunn on the run, setting the midfielder loose toward the box. McMunn then crossed a ball toward the goalmouth where a Salisbury defender made contact and redirected the ball into the netting. 

The 1-0 advantage would hold until there was less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half. A mistake by Jonathon Leiding on the Captains back line led to an equalizer from Ben Pigg for Salisbury, as he cut off a pass backwards and raced toward the goal for a one-on-one with Gabe Barros. Just seconds later, though, Leiding redeemed himself with a beautiful assist on a goal that returned the Captains to the lead. Just 32 seconds after Salisbury tied the match, Leiding lofted a picture-perfect cross to the back post where Owen Burnett headed home the go-ahead goal. 

The eventual game-winning goal would come at the start of the 54th minute when a foul was whistled at the edge of the penalty area against the Sea Gulls. Junior midfielder Chris Schram took the kick for the Captains and bent in a beaut off the keepers hands and into the left pocked of the goal. 

Despite the two-goal deficit, Salisbury would not go quietly, applying increased pressure late in the match as they looked to cut into the lead. In the 87th minute, Salisbury scored on a penalty kick to cut the lead in half, but the CNU defense held on for the final tally of 3-2. 

Christopher Newport outshot the Sea Gulls, 16-11, including a 7-3 advantage in shots on-goal. Schram's goal was his second game-winning strike of the season and his fourth of the year. 

The Captains will now await the conference tournament seeding announcement on Monday, November 1 as they prepare to travel to the University of Mary Washington next week for the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship. Stay tuned to CNUsports.com for announcements regarding the postseason tournament.