NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The 2022 season came to an end for the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team on Sunday evening, falling 4-3 in a penalty kick shootout to Virginia Wesleyan University (19-2-3) after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. The Captains close out the year with a 19-0-3 overall record and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Quarterfinals. 

Playing in front of the fourth-largest crowd in CNU Women's Soccer history, Christopher Newport completely controlled the contest through regulation and overtime, outshooting their cross-water rivals by a final count of 26-6 in the game, including 12 shots to three on target. The Marlins defense withstood wave after wave of attacks from the Captains offense, which forced the opposing goalkeeper to make 12 saves. 

With the score still tied, 0-0, at the end of the second overtime, though, the match would be decided in a penalty kick shootout for the first time in program history. Christopher Newport fifth-year senior Abby Harrigan confidently jogged to the spot, raising her hands to applaud the spirited fanbase of over 700 that had come out to support the two teams. She was the first to take a shot, and buried her attempt with ease to give the Captains a 1-0 lead. On the ensuing kick by Virginia Wesleyan, CNU keeper Jaya Daniel guessed right and got a hand on the shot, but it trickled in behind her to knot the count at 1-1. 

The two teams traded makes in the next two rounds, with fellow seniors Emily Talotta and Jill McDonald putting in their penalty kicks to keep the score level. In the final two rounds, though, the Virginia Wesleyan goalkeeper, Rachel Quigley, made the pivotal saves to secure the match and advance her team to the NCAA Division III semifinals played on December 2. 

"It was an unbelievable season," said head coach Jamie Gunderson. "Winning it all last year was phenomenal, but coming into this year we knew it was going to be an uphill battle because everyone knew exactly who we were this year. I couldn't be more proud of this group and this senior class for how they handled it. They rose to the occasion. Tonight didn't go our way, Virginia Wesleyan battled really hard throughout the entire game. There's a couple chances we don't finish and then we go to PK's -- sometimes it doesn't go your way and that's the game we play."

In the first half, the Captains chances were a preview of the remainder of the match with narrow misses keeping the home team off the board. Just six minutes into the game, Emma Ricci served a ball into the box where Talotta attempted a volley toward the goal -- her shot beat the keeper but it sailed just inches wide of the net. In the 19th minute, Ellie Cox won a hard challenge in the midfield and drove up the middle. After drawing a second defender, she slipped a pass to the left for Talotta, who ripped a hard shot toward the goal that whistled wide right.

In the opening stages of the second half, the Christopher Newport offense raised the level whipping multiple shots toward Quigley and the Virginia Wesleyan goal. Five minutes into the stanza, the Captains earned a free kick from just outside the box. Senior forward Sarah Smith delivered an absolutely brilliant attempt over the wall, destined for the left side of the goal, but the Marlins goalkeeper made a sensational diving save to keep the Captains out of the net. 

Less than two minutes later, Ricci tried to chip the keeper from the left side but again Quigley made the save. Another minute passed and Talotta had two more shots on frame as the barrage from the CNU offense continued at the start of the half. 

Virginia Wesleyan got into the Captains box on the next run down the field, about nine minutes into the second half, but the Marlins attempt was wide of net. Shyenne Diaz then launched a long shot from deep that CNU goalkeeper Jaya Daniel saved with ease. 

On the next trip down the field, Talotta found Harrigan for an open look on the right side. The midfielder blasted a shot at the keeper for the seventh shot in the first ten minutes of the half, including the fifth on target. Harrigan was a star in all phases during her final game wearing a Christopher Newport uniform, as she also made a key defensive play minutes later. On a shot by Alex Miller in the 62nd minute, Harrigan was in position for a block to eliminate the Marlins chance. 

As the minutes waned, the Captains attack continued to pressure Quigley, particularly through Sarah Smith at the top of the CNU formation. With about two-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation, Smith had another chance at a free kick at the top of the box. This one was another dynamite attempt as she screamed a low burner on the ground just inches left of the frame. 

Virginia Wesleyan had one last run down the field to try and win it in regulation, but sophomore center back Re Slater made a clinical challenge in the box in the one-on-one opportunity against Diaz. Slater stabbed the ball off of Diaz and it trickled out of bounds for a goal kick. 

Slater was a key component of the Captains defense that shut down the Marlins from the opening whistle to the final horn as the visitors struggled to get into the box throughout the night. Nyah Savage and Sarah Rhiel on the outside were imperative pieces in pushing the ball forward while also winning key matchup challenges as Virginia Wesleyan tried to put something together. Jill McDonald played field general in the back, organizing her back line and helping Christopher Newport lock down the team's record-tying 16th shutout of the season. 

With the draw, Christopher Newport logged the team's second five-game shutout streak of the season and will carry a run of 483:07 of shutout ball into next season. With 16 clean sheets, CNU matches last season's record-breaking campaign and sets a new record for shutout percentage by holding opponents empty in 72.7 percent of their matches this season (16-22). 

The Captains will also carry their unbeaten streak into 2023 as the match will be recorded as a draw in the official records. Christopher Newport has now continued it's record-breaking streak through 45 games to start head coach Jamie Gunderson's career with an overall record of 41-0-4. The run ties Hardin-Simmons (Sept. 5, 2016-Nov. 19, 2017) for the fifth longest unbeaten streak in NCAA Division III history. 

"This senior group is a special group," said Gunderson. "They've taken this program to new heights when, in an Elite Eight match, you can kind of feel like we didn't achieve our goals. That's an amazing accomplishment that this group has laid the land for the future of this program." 

Christopher Newport closes out the year with a 19-0-3 overall record and will graduate ten seniors including three fifth-year standouts. Harrigan, who started 78 games and with her appearance Sunday night joined the top-ten all-time in career games played at Christopher Newport; Smith, who took 12 shots as she left it all out on the field, was a 2021 All-American and scored ten game-winning goals during her two seasons with the Captains; and Emily Talotta, who finished her career with 25 career assists, ranking third all-time. The remaining seven seniors were pivotal in building the Captains' status as a national contender each of the last several seasons including All-American Jill McDonald, starting defender Sarah Rhiel, midfielders Molly Beegle, Jessica Zimmermann, Caroline Suder, forward Abby Pogreba and team manager Mikaela Hardy. Over the course of their three seasons, with one robbed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the senior class combined to win 57 games with just three losses and seven ties for a winning percentage of over 90 percent (.902).