NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Slogging through a rain-soaked afternoon at Captains Park, the top-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team extended the team's win streak on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Mary Washington (6-6-1). Headlining the Captains' effort was junior center back Reanna Slater, who scored her first career goal while also leading Christopher Newport to a sixth consecutive shutout. 

Taking on the last team to defeat the Captains on their home field, way back in 2019, Christopher Newport controlled the match despite sloppy conditions that included a full-out downpour for parts of the second half. The win improved CNU to 12-0-1 on the season while capturing the 58th consecutive game without a loss. 

Slater, alongside Nyah Savage and Jackie Stallard in the first half and Savage, Kyleigh Gough, and Bella DiTommaso in the second, limited the Mary Washington attack to just five total shots in the game. The junior center back has played full time in 11 straight games for the Captains, including the last six in which Christopher Newport has accumulated the fourth-longest shutout streak in program history. CNU has not surrendered a goal in 569 minutes and 18 seconds, marking the second longest defensive run since 2012. 

Freshman Amy Sidaway played in goal for the Captains, needing to make just one save while improving to 8-0-1 in her first year at CNU. She has now earned eight shutouts in nine games played. 

The game-winning goal would come on a corner kick in the 56th minute as Christopher Newport took the lead on a beautiful ball by Hanna Heaton that was put away by Slater on the back post. Playing in her 49th career game, the CNU defender picked up her first career goal when Heaton's cross trickled over the hands of the Mary Washington keeper and Slater bodied the ball into the net. 

Heaton's helper was her third of the season, tying for the team lead and pushing her ahead of Corinne Kulik for the team's scoring lead with nine points on three goals and three assists. Slater becomes the 12th different CNU player to find the back of the net this season and the eighth Captain with a gamewinner in 2023. 

The corner kick was set up by a well-designed reset out of the defense as Nyah Savage controlled a loose ball before centering a pass into Ellie Cox. The midfielder surveyed the field and found Emma Ricci streaking down the right side with a perfectly paced pass into the corner. Ricci got to the ball first, kept it in bounds, and then drove toward the goal against two defenders before it was cleared off the goal line to set up Heaton's set piece. 

CNU rained down chances against the Eagles, taking 17 shots in the contest. Sarah Smith had back-to-back blasts ricochet off defenders in the second half and Katy Bronski sailed one just high of the goal after getting loose for an open look on the right side of the box. Heaton whistled one wide left in the second half as part of an overall effort that saw CNU outshoot the visitors, 9-0, after intermission. 

A halftime adjustment helped limit the Mary Washington chances as head coach Jamie Gunderson made a tactical change, starting Lexi Hazelgrove in the midfield and Bella DiTommaso in the second half as CNU switched formations. The move paid off, as the Eagles failed to connect on a single pass in Captains 18 after halftime and managed to get a ball up to Sidaway only once, well wide of the goal. DiTommaso and Savage were both also integral in kick-starting several CNU offensive runs and helped possess the ball throughout the second 45. 

The top-ranked Captains will look to continue it's successful season on Wednesday, October 18 as they play host to 18th-ranked and currently undefeated Swarthmore College (9-0-2) at 6:00 p.m.