Live Stats // Video Stream
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team will kick off the 2023 regular season on Saturday at 3 p.m. when the Captains host Virginia Wesleyan at Jennings Family Stadium.
Saturday's bout will mark the first action of the year for both squads. For those fans unable to attend the game, live stats and a video stream of the action will be available at CNUsports.com. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a 2022 campaign in which the Captains recorded a 10-9 record while advancing to the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Championship for the second straight season. Along the way, the squad climbed as high as 22nd in the IWLCA National Coaches Poll and matched the single-season program record with seven wins at home.
Welcoming back an impressive contingent from last year's squad, Christopher Newport earned votes in the national preseason poll and finished just outside of the top-25. It marked the third time in school history that the Captains picked up votes in the preseason rankings after also earning recognition in 2014 and 2022.
Headlining the veteran portion of the roster,
Kelsey Winters,
Kendall Krause, and
Emma Jackson all secured Preseason All-American accolades from
USA Lacrosse Magazine. Winters is coming off of a junior campaign in which she ranked eighth in the NCAA with 66 assists. That total also established a new single-season program record.
Meanwhile, Krause ranked ninth in the league with 45 points and 18 caused turnovers last year, while Jackson led all conference competitors with 36 ground balls and 101 draw controls. With that performance, she became the first player to lead the league in both categories since 2015.
Along with the three national honorees,
Syd Guidi was an All-Region recipient in 2022, while
Madi Rozgonyi is the reigning Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year. Overall, the Captains return 13 players who earned at least one starting assignment last season and six who started all 19 games, including four-year team captain
Riley Rafterry-Lee.
Saturday's showdown will mark the 23rd meeting between the two programs with Christopher Newport holding a 15-7 edge in the series. Last season, the Captains picked up a 20-2 victory in Virginia Beach. Winters led the way with 12 points, while Krause and
Sloane McDonald had three apiece.
After this weekend, Christopher Newport will return to action on February 18 when the team hosts No. 8 Washington & Lee at 3:30 p.m.
---ISH---