GRANTHAM, Pa. -- The 17th-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team scored an early goal against the second-ranked Messiah University Falcons, but the hosts rallied for a 4-1 win on Saturday evening. The Captains suffered just their second loss of the year, falling to 7-2-0 while Messiah improved to 9-0-1. 

The game was played in the midst of steady rainfall at Shoemaker Field, as the remnants of Hurricane Ian impacted the area and forced the matchup to be played on the wet track. The conditions did not take away from the atmosphere as the top-20 showdown was played in front of over 900 fans. 

The spectators were treated to some fireworks early in the contest as Messiah was granted a penalty kick just over two minutes into the game. With the early challenge, senior goalkeeper Ethan Larson was up to the task, making the save and keeping the Falcons off the board.

Christopher Newport channeled the early momentum into a first-half goal just five minutes later as the Captains became just the second team this season to lead Messiah in a game. CNU's leading scorer, senior Brendan Todd, worked his way up the left side with three Messiah players closing in on his fancy footwork. He shuffled a perfect left-footed pass into the box for Elton Quintanilla, left alone for a blistering shot toward the far post. As the goalkeeper dove to his left, the ball ricocheted off a defender and into the goal for the Captains' lead, 1-0. 

The hard rip was Quintanilla's second goal of the season and Todd's first assist. The lead would hold for about seven minutes of game time before Cole Cristian snuck a shot into the far pocket to tie things up in the 15th minute of play. Ben Lefever then gave the home team a 2-1 lead with a shot from nearly the same spot in the 18th minute. 

Moments later, the wet conditions led to a mis-hit on a goalkick by Larson and set the Falcon's leading scorer, Matt McDonald, on a breakaway chance and an eye on running away with the lead. The Captains' sturdy netminder made another huge save, though, cutting off McDonald's angles and making a superb sliding save on the one-on-one chance. 

The lead would hold at 2-1 headed into halftime, but the Captains' allowed two more in the second half for the final tally of 4-1. McDonald scored on a corner kick header from Cristian and Jake Lent-Koop added an unassisted tally for the final score. 

Facing the three-goal deficit, the Captains tried to force as much forward as possible, earning six second-half corner kicks, but could not beat the Messiah keeper another time. Matt Liss had the best chance for the Captains in the second half when a blocked shot found the rookie at the top of the box for an open look -- he spun and fired a nice left-footed shot on frame but a diving save thwarted the CNU attempt. 

Larson made a career-high eight saves while falling to 7-2-0 on the year. Dom Stumpo also played the final 15 minutes of the game, making one save on three shots faced. 

Christopher Newport will look to bounce back on Wednesday, October 5 as they take on Virginia Wesleyan University at home with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 pm.