VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- In a battle featuring two of the most dominant defenses of the 2021 season, the nationally-ranked showdown between No. 19 McDaniel College (0-1-1) and No. 1 Christopher Newport University (1-0-1) finished in a scoreless draw on Sunday afternoon as part of the 2022 Marlin Invitational at Virginia Wesleyan University. The top-ranked Captains extended head coach Jamie Gunderson's unbeaten streak to 25 games to start his career with the 0-0 tie while also improving the team's shutout streak to 365:30 without a goal allowed. 

Only 13 goals were scored against the two teams last season with six coming against the Green Terror and seven scored against the Captains. McDaniel ranked second in the nation in goals-against average and CNU checked in at fourth. In Sunday's head-to-head bout, that standout defense was on display as neither team was able to score. 

Dating back to last season, Christopher Newport has now registered four consecutive shutouts with three coming against nationally-ranked opponents -- first in the NCAA semifinals against No. 9 Loras, then in the national championship bout versus then-No. 1 TCNJ. Sunday's clean sheet against No. 19 McDaniel gives the Captains' their second longest shutout streak in Gunderson's tenure and is one of the top-ten longest such runs in program history. 

The defensive effort was led by the starting foursome in the back headlined by All-American center back Jill McDonald. Flanking the veteran on the back line was rookie Kate Eissenberg, playing 87 minutes in the game, and full-time efforts from Nyah Savage and Sarah Rhiel. 

The Captains' midfielders also helped keep McDaniel from getting comfortable offensively as fifth-year senior Abby Harrigan controlled the middle and sophomore Ellie Cox played the full 90 as the Captains' holding midfielder. Reserves Kenna McCarthy and Katy Bronski filled in off the bench as the Captains' defensive unit held McDaniel to just seven total shots in the contest. 

Four of those attempts were on frame and rookie goalkeeper Abby Ochs proved up to the task on all four. In making those saves, Ochs cleaned up her second career shutout in as many games played. 

Offensively, the Captains peppered the McDaniel defense with runs down the field and finished the game with seven shots on-goal, but were unable to get by the Green Terror keeper Katherine Carstensen. Sarah Smith led the way with three attempts while McCarthy ripped a pair of shots including one on-goal. Emily Talotta also slammed a pair of shots with one on-frame while Emma Ricci, Natalie Swarm, Harrigan and Rhiel each added one shot on-goal apiece. 

For the third straight game to start the 2022 season, Christopher Newport will be playing at Foster Field in Virginia Beach for their next contest. The Captains will face the host Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan University on Wednesday, September 7 at 7:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at CNUsports.com.