SALISBURY, Md. -- The 12th-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team will open postseason play on Friday, November 4 against #4-seed Wisconsin-Whitewater (13-6-1) at the Sea Gull Soccer Stadium with first touch scheduled for 11:00 a.m. The Captains (11-3-1) earned a first-round bye as the top seed in the tournament while the Warhawks earned a 1-0 win over #5-seed UC Santa Cruz in Thursday's quarterfinal round. 

Christopher Newport is the reigning Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Champion and won the regular season for the third consecutive year under head coach Justin Chezem. The Captains will be facing UW-Whitewater for the first time in program history and are taking on a Warhawks squad that has won eight of their last 11 outings. 

Six CNU players earned All-Conference recognition on Wednesday afternoon and the Captains will lean on their success as they look to defend the conference crown from a year ago. First team selections Ethan Larson, Jonathon Leiding, and Trevor Smith are integral pieces to a dominant CNU defense that has allowed just 10 goals in 15 games played this season. In goal, Larson ranks in the top-25 nationally in total shutouts and has been a part of all 10 clean sheets this season. 

On the offensive end, second team All-C2C forward Elton Quintanilla leads the team in scoring with 11 points on three goals and five assists this year. He and fellow transfer Ryan Machado-Jones are the top two scorers as the latter has added eight points on two goals and four assists. Two more newcomers, in freshman Asher Kuzemka and senior transfer Kyle Stenzel, have aided the CNU attack with seven points on three goals and one assist, as has Brendan Todd, a senior midfielder. 

The Captains are coming off a 3-0 win in the regular season finale at the Sea Gull Soccer Stadium where Friday's game will be played. CNU has logged three consecutive multi-goal efforts and are unbeaten in five of their last six games.

The winning team will advance to Sunday's championship bout against the other semifinal winner played between #2 Mary Washington and either #3 UW-Platteville or #6 Salisbury. 

UW-Whitewater advanced to Friday's semifinal on a second-half penalty kick goal to capture a 1-0 win over the Banana Slugs. The Warhawks have two All-Conference selections in 2022 in seniors Jalen Holley and Evan Donini. Holley is among the league leaders in scoring with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists while Faizan Mohiuddin scored the PK winner on Thursday and ranks second on the team with 18 points on eight goals and two helpers. 

Donini is a three-time All-Conference defender that helped bolster a back line that picked up the second-most shutouts on the season in the C2C. 

For fans unable to attend the game in person, live stats and a live video webcast will be available courtesy of the Salisbury Department of Athletics. Links to both can be found at C2Csports.com or on the men's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com.