SALISBURY, Md. -- Scoring a goal and an assist in the game, Christopher Newport senior midfielder Emily Talotta led the fifth-ranked Captains to a 2-0 win at host and #4-seeded Salisbury University in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Semifinals. A pair of historical achievements highlighted the win for top-seeded Christopher Newport women's soccer on Friday as the Captains improved to 15-0-1 and advanced to the program's third conference championship game in the last four seasons. 

With the shutout victory, the Captains have now tied for the second longest unbeaten streak in program history with 16 straight games. That mark is second only to the program-record 20-match roll to start the 2017 campaign. The Captains will face either #2-seed Mary Washington or #3-seed UC Santa Cruz in Saturday's championship game at 1:00 p.m.

Both teams had close chances early in the match on Friday including a goal-shaking missile from Riley Cook off the post in the opening minutes. About six minutes into the match, Salisbury also had a close opportunity when Kasey Lamb had a swing from inside the box, but CNU goalkeeper Haley Eiser made an excellent stop, leaping to punch the ball away just above the bar. 

With shots coming at a more rapid pace as the half continued, the Captains took advantage of a nice play by Talotta in the 34th minute of action to get on the board. A Salisbury defender took the ball away from the Captains near the top of the box, but Talotta did not quit on the play and jumped in front of her clear attempt. The ball bounded toward the box and the savvy CNU senior raced to it before a couple of touches toward the end line. The Sea Gulls defender hip-checked Talotta off her line in the box and the referee whistled the play for a penalty kick. 

Stepping up to the spot to take the shot, Talotta finished the play by tucking in her first career PK goal. It would hold up as the game-winning goal, her second of the season and third of her career. 

The Captains held onto the 1-0 advantage until the 75th minute when sophomore Emma Ricci connected off a pass from Talotta to double the lead. Ricci put her defender on her hip and received a pass from Talotta on the left side before sliding in a soft shot from close range into the right corner of the goal. Her fifth goal of the season moved her up to second on the Captains' scoring chart with 16 points in her first season with the Captains. 

The helper was an historic milestone for Talotta, who collected her 20th career assist with the pass. In less than two full seasons with the Captains, Talotta has moved into a tie for fifth all-time at CNU in career assists with Gabby Gillis and Amy Petko. She currently leads the program all-time in assists per game with a 0.53 mark in 38 career games played. 

Highlighting the performance overall was a pair of record-tying individual efforts. In addition to Talotta's move up the individual charts, senior goalkeeper Haley Eiser tied Carly Maglio (2014-17) with her 26th career shutout to mark the most all-time by a CNU player. Both Eiser and Maglio played in 34 career shutouts with 26 solo and eight combined overall and Eiser ranks second in career wins with 47. 

Christopher Newport will return to action at the Salisbury Soccer Stadium on Saturday, November 6 as they face the winner of the Mary Washington and UC Santa Cruz semifinal, being played at 2:00 pm on Friday.