NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Powered by an exceptional performance by senior midfielder Emma Ricci, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team improved to 5-0-0 on the season with a 2-0 win over No. 17 Virginia Wesleyan on Tuesday night. Ricci scored a goal and added an assist to help lift CNU, newly minted the No. 3 team in the nation, to their historic 50th consecutive game without a loss. 

Continuing an unprecedented start to an NCAA Coaching Career, head coach Jamie Gunderson reached fifty straight games without a loss on his ledger, improving to 46-0-4 on Tuesday night. He and the Captains have now logged just the 10th streak in NCAA women's soccer history (including NCAA Division I, II, and III) with at least 50 consecutive games without a loss.

Of the 14 sports that officially keep coaching W-L records in the NCAA, there have been fewer than 50 streaks in the entire history of the organization of 50 games or more. Already the record-holder among NCAA soccer coaches, it is believed that Gunderson is the first to reach the milestone in the first 50 games of his first-ever head coaching position among those 14 sports. 

The win came against nationally-ranked Virginia Wesleyan, exorcising the memory of the final game in 2022 when the Marlins slipped by the Captains in the NCAA National Quarterfinals with a penalty kick shootout win. CNU got the game started with a bang, lighting up the scoreboard seemingly before fans even had a chance to take their seats following the national anthem. Scoring the fourth-fastest goal to start a game in program history, sophomore Katy Bronski headed home her first goal of the season just 30 seconds into the match. 

Emma Ricci got loose down the right side, evading her defender with nothing but green space ahead of her into the corner. After drawing a second defender, she sent a low cross into the box that bounded high into the air, where Bronski was able to elevate and power home the header. 

With a 1-0 lead before even a minute had expired, the Captains had the upper-hand throughout the match. CNU finished with a 22-8 advantage in total attempts including a 10-3 edge in shots on-goal. The limited chances the Marlins mounted came mostly on scrums in the box that the Captains defense did a good job diffusing. Rookie Amy Sidaway made three saves in her collegiate debut in goal, including a late stop on a corner kick amidst a crowded group in the box. The freshman earned her first career shutout and victory after playing the full 90 minutes against the nationally-ranked opponent. Sidaway becomes the first CNU goalkeeper to win over a nationally-ranked team in her debut since Haley Eiser defeated No. 9 Wisconsin-La Crosse on August 31, 2018. 

The CNU attack would add an insurance goal late in the second half on a play started by Emma Ricci again. After working hard on the right side trying to get by her defenders and insert the ball to the middle of the field, she diced through a pair of Marlins before sending a pass across the field that was tipped out by Virginia Wesleyan. On the restart, Courtney Ennis received a pass back near the sideline and the senior midfielder arced an outstanding cross into the middle of the box. It bounced once before Ricci got to it, trapped it to her feet and then blistered a right-footed laser into the top of the netting for the goal. 

The 2-0 advantage all but iced the victory as the Captains defense settled in for the final ten minutes. Reanna Slater, Nyah Savage, and Jackie Stallard combined in front of Sidaway to limit the dangerous Marlins attack to just eight total attempts and three shots on-target. 

The Captains defense has now registered four consecutive shutouts and run it's shutout streak to 368:21 through the first five games this season. The lone goal surrendered this season was on a penalty kick in the opening game of the year as the third-ranked CNU women's soccer team has held their opponents to just 4.6 shots per game so far. 

Christopher Newport will head out of the state for the weekend as the next two games will be played in Columbus, Ohio. First, CNU will face Capital University on Friday night before taking on Ohio Northern University in a Sunday afternoon matinee.