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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Kicking off a new era for the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse program, the second-ranked Captains will open up Coastal Lacrosse Conference action on Saturday at noon when the squad hosts Montclair State at Jennings Family Stadium.
Saturday's bout will mark the first league contest in the history of the Coastal Lacrosse Conference. The league was founded last fall when the remaining three members of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference joined up with the three schools from the New Jersey Athletic Conference that sponsored men's lacrosse.
The first-year league features Christopher Newport and Montclair State along with Kean, Mary Washington, Salisbury, and Stockton.
Entering the weekend, the Captains sit at 5-0 on the season, including 4-0 at home. Meanwhile, the Red Hawks are 2-2 overall and 1-0 on the road.
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 16-12 victory over St. John Fisher on Wednesday. After trailing, 3-2, at the end of the first quarter, the Captains erupted in the middle two stanzas while pulling away for the win.
Andrew Cook deposited five goals in the game, while
Coby Auslander,
Alex Brendes, and
Drew Miller all contributed five points apiece.
Equally impressive,
Warner Cabaniss won 22 of his 27 faceoff attempts while snatching 15 ground balls. His 22 victories equaled the third-highest total by a Captain, while his 15 rollers matched the fourth-most in program history.
Aided by his performance on Wednesday, Cabaniss now sits just two ground balls away from reaching 200 for his career. He would become only the fifth player in school history to reach that mark, joining former All-Americans Tony Cruz and
Phoenix Hines as well as longtime legends Ari Elgort and Teddy Pekalski.
In addition to Cabaniss, Cook is also closing in on some history. With four more points, he would become just the 17th Captain to reach 100 for his career. Adding more luster to his accomplishment, he has made only 25 career appearances since arriving at Christopher Newport. Former All-American
Dylan Rice is the fastest Captain to reach 100 career points, accomplishing the feat in his 28th outing.
Along with the offensive heroes, Christopher Newport has remained steadfast on the defensive end as well. On Wednesday,
Zac Hanway matched his season-high with 11 saves, while
Ryan Young and
Ryan Cammarata anchored the back line with two takeaways apiece.
Campbell Pozin also collected six ground balls and successfully converted a highlight-reel, man-down clear in the fourth quarter against St. John Fisher to help seal the victory.
Aided by Pozin's work, the Captains currently rank ninth in the NCAA with a .918 clearing percentage. The team is also third in scoring offense (19.80 goals-per-game), sixth in faceoff percentage (.748), and 10th in takeaways-per-contest (14.00).
On the other side of the field, Montclair State enters Saturday after a 9-4 setback against McDaniel last weekend. During that contest, David Metzger pocketed 16 saves, while Jack Cleary landed a pair of goals. Additionally, Jack Greco and Logan Lamarca added three takeaways apiece.
So far this season, the Red Hawks have boasted one of the nation's top man-down defenses. Montclair State has successfully killed off 95.7 percent of its opposition's attempts this year, which ranks ninth in the NCAA. Additionally, Metzger ranks 26th in the country with a .628 save percentage, while Lucas Novack boasts a .645 faceoff percentage after winning 40 of his 62 battles this year.
Saturday's match-up will mark the first all-time meeting between Montclair State and Christopher Newport.
After this weekend's showdown, the Captains will hit the road for the Mustang Classic beginning on Friday at 5:45 p.m. with a showdown against No. 1 RIT.
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