NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A semifinal brace for Jill McDonald was enough to power third-ranked Christopher Newport into the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship after a 3-1 win for the Captains against #4-seed Salisbury University on Friday afternoon. The Captains improved to 15-0-2 with the win while Salisbury fell to 9-9-2 overall this season. 

With the victory, Christopher Newport reached 40 consecutive games without a loss, marking only the seventh time in NCAA Division III history that a program has reached the milestone. 

The Captains will next defend their conference crown against #3 Mary Washington on Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. after the Eagles captured a 1-0 win over #2-seed UC Santa Cruz on Friday night. 

In the Friday evening bout against Salisbury, first-team All-Conference defender Jill McDonald put her offensive skills on display with a goal in each half. Corinne Kulik added the game-winning goal with a strike in the 51st minute, as CNU never trailed in the 3-1 victory. 

With a penalty kick goal in the first half and a corner kick header goal in the second, McDonald made history as the first defender in CNU history to score two goals in a tournament game since joining the C2C in 2013-14 and only the second ever to accomplish the feat. She is the first defender to score twice in a postseason game at all since Hillary Carney had a hat trick against Ferrum in the 2004 USA South Athletic Conference semifinals. 

The teams traded blows early in the first half before Jessica Zimmermann provided a spark off the bench for the Captains. The senior midfielder was aggressive and constantly on the ball after checking in during the 16th minute of action. With the play elevated, the Captains started moving more action forward until the 29th minute when Natalie Swarm checked in and again raised the level. Just three minutes after checking into the game, Swarm found herself in a position to make a play after Re Slater sent a long ball over the defense, forcing the goalkeeper out off her line. Swarm raced between defenders and leaped toward the ball, but contact was made by the goalkeeper forcing a foul call in the box and a penalty kick. 

Stepping up to the spot, McDonald did not hesitate and slammed a strong shot into the netting to put Christopher Newport ahead, 1-0, in the 32nd minute. The lead would hold there until the second half when both teams put together an early flurry of action moving toward the goal. Three straight corner kicks fell empty for CNU while C2C Offensive Player of the Year Autumn Dougherty had a pair of attempts blocked by CNU defenders all in the first five minutes. 

CNU tacked on what would prove to be an imperative insurance goal in the 51st minute to take a 2-0 lead after a nice combination of passes down the right side. Ellie Cox started the play by finding Kate Eissenberg just outside the 18-yard box where the rookie turned and one-touched a pass through the defense for Corinne Kulik. Kulik then rifled a hard shot into the goal to double the Captains' lead. 

Salisbury cut the lead in half on a similar connection in the 77th minute when Zakiyyah McMillan shuffled a pass through Kyla Holt in the midfield, over to the right for Lissette Carneiro. Carneiro launched a long shot that got over CNU goalkeeper Jaya Daniel to make the score 2-1. The goal was only the seventh this season allowed by the vaunted CNU defense. 

The momentum would not shift in favor of the visitors, though, as CNU responded quickly with the third goal of the match in the 83rd minute. Sarah Rhiel delivered her fifth assist from the corner this season when she placed a gorgeous pass into the center of the box where McDonald was waiting, leaped, and powered home a header into the right side. 

Christopher Newport had a bevy of other chances that fell just by the wayside. Junior Kenna McCarthy nearly netted a corner kick of her own when her shot was cleared off the line right at the far post by a Salisbury defender. QB Osuna and Swarm connected for multiple near-chances and Molly Beegle also showed off some excellent footwork to get by her defender on several occasiosn. The reserves also included Caroline Suder, Jackie Stallard, Katy Bronski, Abby Pogreba, and Callie Birk, all pitching in high energy minutes in the hotly contested matchup. 

With the victory, the Captains will play in their second straight and seventh overall conference championship since 2013. The Captains are four-time conference champions in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference and will take on a familiar foe in the University of Mary Washington Eagles in Sunday's title bout. The two teams faced eachother twice in the regular season, with CNU earning 1-0 victories in both contests. 

Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.