SALISBURY, Md. -- The fifth-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team scored a goal in the first five minutes and then locked down defensively, shutting out the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs to capture the 2021 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship, 1-0. The Captains (16-0-1) secured the team's 13th career trip to the NCAA Tournament and captured their fourth conference title in the last five seasons. 

Leading the shutout effort was senior goalkeeper Haley Eiser, making history with the complete game clean sheet, as she becomes the Captains' all-time leader in shutouts with 27 in her career. With a pair of blankings in the C2C Tournament, Eiser moved ahead of Carly Maglio for the top spot in Christopher Newport lore. The match was mostly uneventful for Eiser but as the Banana Slugs pressed for the game-tying goal late in the match, the fifth-year netminder made a highlight-reel diving stop with less than four minutes left to play. Amanda Scott took the attempt for UC Santa Cruz from right at the top of the box, directing a shot toward the left upper 90; Eiser stepped to her side and then leaped for a fully-extended diving play to punch the ball away.

The senior from Richmond, Va. made three total saves to keep UC Santa Cruz off the board, and leaned on another stalwart performance from the Captains' back line. Jill McDonald, Re Slater, and Nyah Savage each played full time in the win while Sarah Rhiel and Hannah Karas combined for the last spot on the stingy back line. In the game, the Captains surrendered just five total shots in another dominating performance for the nationally-ranked Captains. 

On the other end of the field, Emily Talotta continued her exceptional play over the course of the tournament, feeding the ball ahead to Sarah Smith for the game-winning goal less than four minutes into the game. After receiving a pass from Slater out of the back line, Talotta turned on a defender and took a dribble up field before finding her senior teammate near the top of the box. Off the first touch, Smith collected against her defender and then ripped a scorching liner into the right side of the netting past the diving goalkeeper. 

The goal was Smith's seventh in her first season as a Captain and her fourth game-winning strike. 

Christopher Newport outshot UC Santa Cruz, 17-5, in the game, including a 6-3 advantage in shots on-goal. Riley Cook led the way with five total shots including a pair on frame while Ryanne Davidson added four total shots with one on-goal. 

For her role in propelling the Captains to the conference championship, Talotta was named the C2C Tournament MVP. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by Jill McDonald, Sarah Smith, and Haley Eiser. 

After securing the league's automatic berth into the postseason championship, Christopher Newport will now await the decision from the NCAA Division III National Championship Committee for the location and opponent of their first round game. A selection show will be posted on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon at 1:00 pm.