Tournament Information

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The top-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team is set to get back to work this weekend as the Captains (18-0-2) host the NCAA Division III Sectional Round for the second straight year. The schedule features two Round of 16 matchups on Saturday afternoon and the National Quarterfinal bout on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Christopher Newport will open action against No. 23 Virginia Wesleyan University (17-3-2) at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. 

The other matchup will feature California Lutheran University (17-1-4) and Hardin-Simmons University (17-1-3) at 4:30 p.m. The two advancing teams will then matchup on Captains Field this Sunday evening. 

Ticket prices for both days are $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens and children. CNU students will be admitted free of charge, courtesy of the CNU Athletics Department. For fans unable to attend in person, a live video stream and live stats will be available at CNUsports.com. 

Local host information, game links, and post-game press conferences will be available on the NCAA Tournament microsite posted at the top of this page and also accessible through the women's soccer page on CNUsports.com. 

The Captains advanced to their third straight sectional weekend courtesy of a 7-0 win over Marymount in the opening round and a 3-2 defeat of McDaniel in the second. CNU has advanced to the Round of 16 in four of the last five postseason tournaments. Entering the weekend, the home team is also riding one of the most impressive unbeaten streaks in NCAA soccer history, having not suffered a loss in exactly four years since November 17, 2019. The run has risen to 65 consecutive games without a loss, checking in a 59-0-6 in that stretch.

CNU was eliminated by Virginia Wesleyan in the 2022 sectional weekend in a penalty kick shootout and Saturday's matchup will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Tournament. The Marlins are 2-0-1 in the previous three and the Captains trail thee all-time series overall by a count of 11-13-5. The two teams played during the 2023 regular season and Christopher Newport secured a 2-0 win on Captains Field back on September 12, handing the Marlins one of only three losses they would suffer this season. 

This season, sophomore Hanna Heaton has paced the attack with a team-high 20 points on seven goals and six assists. She has four game-winning goals and leads the Captains in all three major offensive categories. Four more CNU players are in double figures for the year, including Kyleigh Gough (13 pts), Emma Ricci (12 pts), and Corinne Kulik (12 pts). 

While the offense has rounded into form, the defense has led the way for Christopher Newport all season long. Junior center back Reanna Slater earned Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors and anchors a back line that has surrendered just four goals, with three coming on penalty kicks, this season.  Senior Nyah Savage continues her run of impressive reliability, starting all 65 games during her career at outside back, and rookie Bella DiTommaso has handled the other side with seven starts and 15 games played. In goal, rookie Amy Sidaway has started 16 straight games and boasts a 0.19 GAA; her first career start came in the 2-0 win over Virginia Wesleyan this season. 

The Marlins counter with a talented offense led by Shyenne Diaz with 28 points on 13 goals and two assists. Alexis Miller has added 18 points on six goals and a team-high six helpers, while Julia Marrone (9 pts) and Breacain McCleahan (9 pts) add depth to the potent offense. Defensively, veteran goalkeeper Rachel Quigley has allowed just nine goals in 21 games to teams not named Christopher Newport and has 10 shutouts this season. 

The other sectional semifinal matchup will pit a pair of one-loss teams against eachother for the right to play for a sectional championship. Hardin-Simmons is one of the nation's elite offenses, scoring 3.48 goals per game to rank 14th in the nation. Lexi Templin leads the team with 18 goals and 40 points this season. The Regals of Cal Lutheran will rival the top-ranked offense with one of the top-ranked defenses in the country, ranking 17th nationally in goals-against average with a 0.500 mark. Logan Duford has played nearly 1,400 minutes and boasts a 0.59 GAA between the pipes for CLU.