NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team picked up their tenth win of the season on Wednesday evening, rolling past Salisbury University (2-10-2) by the final score of 3-0. Playing on a brisk night at Captains Field, the CNU offense caught fire against the Sea Gulls, scoring three goals as the nation's 16th-ranked team improved to 10-2-1 overall. 

With their tenth victory, the Captains recorded double-digit wins for the 25th time in the last 26 seasons. That includes all three seasons under head coach Justin Chezem as the CNU guide led Christopher Newport to it's fourth straight shutout and ninth of the season. 

Junior defender Jonathon Leiding made a little history when he scored in the 37th minute of action to put the Captains ahead, 1-0. As his goal held up as the gamewinner, Leiding became just the fourth defender in program history to notch back-to-back game-winning goals for the Captains, joining Sam Venker in 2010, John Fitzgerald in 1987, and CNU Athletics Hall of Famer Gerard Mosley, who beat Virginia Wesleyan and NJIT on October 7 and 11, 1986. He is the second member of the back line to cash in on a pair of winners this season, joining Kyle Stenzel, and is just the fourth (Sammy Blosser 2016, Sean Christein 2014) to record multiple game-winning goals in a single season over the last ten years. 

The goal would come off a rebound as there was a flurry of activity in the box started by Godfrey Abel on the outside. After a long throw-in by Ryan Kiely was batted around the box, the ball bounced to Abel on the outside and the sophomore tried to volley a shot through traffic. His attempt was blocked, right to the foot of Alex Risko, who ripped a low liner saved by the goalkeeper -- the rebound off his shot trickled right to the foot of Leiding, who finished with the goalkeeper on the ground for the score. 

Minutes later, the Captains would double the lead with Abel involved again. The sophomore forward assisted on the second goal as rookie Asher Kuzemka finished for the score. The play began with Risko on the near sideline making a nifty spin move around his defender to get in the clear for a pass to Kuzemka down the middle. With numbers bearing downfield, the rookie found Abel on the outside and the two worked together for the shot in the middle of the box. 

Carrying a 2-0 lead into halftime, CNU held a 9-2 advantage in total shots in the first half, putting five on frame. 

The final tally of the evening would come in the 69th minute when Jason LaViola took advantage of a defensive miscue by the Sea Gulls. After a Salisbury restart, the Gulls tried to build things through the back, but LaViola and Ryan Machado-Jones made things difficult for the goalkeeper by closing in on the passing from the defenders. A bad pass by Salisbury freed LaViola in the middle of the field all by himself with no one but the keeper to beat and the sophomore paid off the opportunity with his second goal in the last four contests. 

While the offense carried the effort on Wednesday, the back line continued to impress with the team's fourth consecutive shutout. Chris Schram, Kiely, Leiding, and Jonah Fitz did the bulk of the work on the back line while Jacob Dudley added pivotal minutes off the bench. A.J. Goller and Zach Ruhlman came in late to help secure the shutout, shared by three different goalkeepers. 

Ethan Larson earned the start and played just over 78 minutes with one save before giving way to rookie Hayden Dewey for his first collegiate appearance. Dewey made a sensational save in the 86th minute to keep the Sea Gulls off the board. Finally, Jack Lynam finished out the clean sheet in goal for the Captains, making his first career appearance as well. 

The Captains closed the book on the home schedule with an 8-1-1 overall record in 2022. Christopher Newport will return to action this weekend at Mary Washington on Saturday. First touch for that game will be at 2:30 p.m.