HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Headlining an impressive offensive assault, Abby Asuncion and Lainey Pratzner both scored a pair of goals as the Christopher Newport field hockey team ran past Eastern Mennonite, 7-1, during a non-conference tilt on Sunday afternoon at the EMU Turf Field.
 
Against the Royals, Asuncion became just the 16th Captain to eclipse 50 career points after reaching the milestone with her first goal on Sunday. Incredibly, she joined the exclusive club in her 28th career game. Only Wendy Wilson and Ashley Traylor reached the mark quicker. Wilson accomplished the feat in her 18th career appearance, while Traylor did it in her 25th outing.
 
Along with Asuncion, Pratzner posted her first career multi-goal effort after landing a pair of first-half darts. Meanwhile, Maddison Steele, Marcella Sabbagh, and Chloe Thompson also found the back of the cage on Sunday.
 
Testing the Royals with a relentless attack, the Captains finished the contest with 60 shots. That marked the sixth-highest single-game total in program history and the highest amount in a road tilt since Christopher Newport unloaded 63 attempts at Trinity (D.C.) on September 28, 2001.
 
Incidentally, that showdown at Trinity (D.C.) was the same game in which Wilson became the founding member of the school's 50-point club.
 
With the victory, Christopher Newport improves to 5-4 on the season. The setback drops Eastern Mennonite to 7-3 and snaps the squad's five-game winning streak.
 
Facing an EMU squad that had blanked its past three opponents, the Captains came out firing. In the first quarter, Christopher Newport controlled possession. After the visitors worked the ball into the offensive end, they built a wall near midfield and never let the hosts escape the zone. Nyla Lewis broke up a clear on the right side of the field, Thompson ripped the ball away on a charge up the middle of the turf, and Brooke Billhimer had a gorgeous tackle along the left sideline.
 
With pressure mounting, Billhimer chased down a loose ball near the sideline in the seventh minute. From the 25, she pumped a seed into the circle. Incredibly, the ball bounced through the legs of Katie Abendschoen and scooted around the stick of a defender. Still flying towards the cage, the screamer eventually connected with Pratzner along the right pipe. Finally putting an end to the ball's circuitous route, the freshman punched it home for the game's first tally.
 
That strike ended Eastern Mennonite's shutout streak, which spanned 187 minutes and included parts of five games dating back to September 19.
 
Attempting to respond, the hosts had a threat in the 11th minute after an attacker weaved through traffic along the right sideline. Slipping free for a moment, the Royal had momentum on her side, but Izzy Diz stayed deep and quickly won a one-on-one battle to stamp out the rally.
 
Still looking to even the score early in the second quarter, Eastern Mennonite found the equalizer in the 17th minute to knot the game at one. Unfazed, the Captains launched a counterstrike.
 
Four minutes after the hosts tied the game, Christopher Newport broke the deadlock. Abendschoen spun around a defender inside the circle before uncorking an on-target blast. Although the goalie made an initial save, Steele was there to clean up. The first-year star collected the rebound and painted the right pipe for the go-ahead goal.
 
Just three minutes later, Sabbagh lofted a floater from the 25 that came crashing down inside the circle. Although a brief battle ensued inside the arc, Christopher Newport capitalized on the aerial and secured a corner. On the play, Mauri Ware inserted a feed to Thompson, who quickly connected with Asuncion. With a defender on her hip, the junior cut to her right and threaded a perfectly-placed shot between two defenders, the goalie, and the right post for her first tally of the game.
 
Keeping the pressure on, the Captains came back for more. In the 26th minute, Sabbagh hammered the ball from the edge of the arc, which put the defense on its heels. As the Royals struggled to catch up, the ball bounced to Emma Logue, who quickly settled the hopper and slipped it towards the right pipe. On the receiving end, Pratzer deflected it behind the goalie for her second strike of the game.
 
Holding a 4-1 edge, Christopher Newport added one more goal just before halftime. In the 29th minute, Steele pushed forward deep inside the circle and eventually drew a corner. Although Billhimer's ensuing shot was stymied by a defender, the ball connected with the foot of the Royal along the post and earned a penalty stroke.
 
Fittingly, after helping set up the previous two goals, Sabbagh took the free shot. The junior elevated a scorcher and tucked it into the left side of the cage for her first career goal, which gave the Captains a 5-1 lead entering halftime.
 
Following the break, Christopher Newport continued to test Eastern Mennonite's back line. Leading the way, Thompson was tremendous in the early moments of the third quarter. The sophomore earned a pair of corners after pressuring the Royals along the left post before slapping a shot off the foot of a defender at the top of the arc. Meanwhile, Morgan Arthur kept the ball in the zone with a pair of interceptions just outside of the circle.
 
Although the Captains came away empty-handed during the initial rush, the visitors never slowed down. In the early part of the third period, Christopher Newport earned seven corners and pumped 15 shots during a suffocating stretch of offensive domination. Even though Eastern Mennonite managed to escape that surge unscathed, a second wave quickly followed.
 
In the 43rd minute, Sabbagh sliced a shot towards the cage. Although the roller was kicked away by the goalie, Thompson kept the deflection inside the arc. Snatching the rebound on the left side of the zone, she elevated a dart past the keeper for the squad's sixth goal.
 
Less than a minute later, Asuncion added the seventh strike. This time, the junior took possession on the right side of the circle. Bursting towards the end line, she scooted around a defender, marched inside, and slipped a shot between the goalie and the right post for her 25th career goal. That moved her into a tie with Diana Golden for the 13th most in school history.
 
Holding a 7-1 lead, Christopher Newport's defense did the rest. At the end of the third quarter, Diz made a huge tackle on a deep surge during an Eastern Mennonite rally. Then, in the fourth stanza, Billhimer stuck to an attacker and forced an errant shot that squirted past the left pipe. Later, after the Captains took possession on the offensive end again, Abendschoen and Ainsley Miller cut off clear attempts near midfield to keep control and chip away at the final few minutes of regulation.
 
Eventually, the Captains polished off the lopsided affair with a 60-2 advantage in shots and a 12-0 edge in corners. Gabi Gray earned the win for her efforts in the first half, while Paige Bowling added 30 minutes of pristine work in the cage after the break.
 
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts Rhodes at 11 a.m.
 
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