NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking on the second-ranked University of Mary Washington on a rainy and wet evening at Captains Field, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 draw after ninety minutes of slogging through tough conditions. The Captains are now 9-1-2 overall after Barry Jones scored his first goal of the season to equalize against the Eagles (10-1-2) in the first half.

Heavy rainfall pouring down for hour five hours prior to gametime created a sloppy track for both teams and slowed the ball down in the midfield area. Contending with the elements throughout the first half, both teams scored once, and when the sun came out at halftime, both teams managed quality chances in the second half before the game ended in the 1-1 tie. 

Facing one of the top offenses in the nation, sophomore goalkeeper Hayden Dewey put together the finest effort of his young career with 10 saves in the contest including a handful of highlight-reel stops to keep the Eagles off the board. It was an historical performance for the second-year player, tying for the most saves by a CNU goalkeeper in the last 16 seasons as he became just the second Captain with double-digit saves in a game since Matt Tengs snared 13 in a 2006 double overtime matchup at North Carolina Wesleyan. Ironically, the Battling Bishops were coached by current Mary Washington head man Jason Kilby in that contest. 

Mary Washington did strike first against Dewey in the eighth minute of the game when Sammy Amorose drove the end line and slipped a pass across the face of the goal for a tap in by Gabe Francesconi. From there, Dewey was unbeatable. In the first half, he made three saves, including a sensational one-on-one stop just minutes following the first goal when Carter Berg was freed in the box for a shot in close range. 

With Dewey taking care of his end, the Captains offense started to challenge the Mary Washington defense for the equalizer. CNU sprayed four shots toward the Eagles goal in a stretch of less than two minutes in the middle portion of the period, including a would-be equalizer by Mason Field that was cleared off the line by the Mary Washington defense. 

The game-tying goal would come through for the Captains just minutes later in the 27th minute of action. After a restart following a caution, the Captains sophomore wingers connected Jones-to-Jones as Caleb Jones found Barry Jones for the score. Jonah Fitz started the play right in front of the Captains' bench and played up the right line for Barry Jones. After an initial cross was narrowly missed by Elton Quintanilla, the ball was cleared away by the Eagles. Fifth-year defender Jacob Dudley kept the play alive, though, and played a pass up to Caleb Jones on the left side. Jones worked around a defender, got to his right foot, and sailed a perfect cross into the box for the other Jones, who slid through the ball to find the back of the net. 

Both teams played through the rain the rest of the first half but the sun came out at halftime and the remainder of the game was played in dryer conditions. A burst by Mary Washington early in the second half challenged Dewey with three shots on-goal in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the stanza. The third of which was a remarkable adjustment by the sophomore keeper as the shot by Berg was ripped to the left but deflected back to the center of the goal and Dewey had to adjust on the fly, barely getting his mitt on the ball for the save. 

The goalkeeper logged six of his ten saves in the first 14 minutes of the second half to keep the dangerous Eagles attack off the board. 

The Captains had the better run at the end of the game as a late-game surge provided the home team with four corner kicks in the final five minutes of action. In the final minute, Matt Liss took a corner kick that Mary Washington failed to clear and ended up right back at the feet of the sophomore midfielder. Liss got a second effort rolling toward the goal on the back post, through the entire group of bodies in the box, but an Eagles defender managed to close in and turn away the last-minute chance. 

The 1-1 draw was the second straight tie between the two conference rivals and the seventh tie in the all-time series. CNU and Mary Washington will match up again in the regular season finale on October 28.

The final home game of the regular season for CNU saw the Captains post an undefeated 7-0-2 mark in home games. The Captains will travel to Salisbury University on Wednesday, October 18 for their next game, kicking off at 3:00 p.m.