SALISBURY, Md. -- After a scoreless first half, both teams found the back of the net in the second half as the Christopher Newport men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at Salisbury University on a warm, sunny afternoon in Maryland. The home team scored first before sophomore Colin Skwirut found the equalizer as the Captains improved to 5-4-4 on the season while Salisbury is now 5-6-3. 

The Captains went on the road and put together another strong performance on both ends of the field, outshooting Salisbury by a final count of 20-12 while the defense held their opponent to just one goal, marking the ninth time this season CNU has held their foe to one or fewer in a game. 

Early in the match, it was senior midfielder Jason LaViola pressuring the Sea Gulls defense with four shots in the first 22 minutes. LaViola put one of those four attempts on target and forced a save by Salisbury keeper Josh Wendel. The early pressure carried over into the middle portion of the first half as Manzi Siibo added his second shot, blocked by a defender, and Barry Jones connected on a shot on frame that Wendel was forced to save. 

In the final minutes of the opening stanza, junior goalkeeper Hayden Dewey was ready when Salisbury connected on their first shot on-goal as he stopped an attempt from Ethan Dolezal. It came just moments after Drew McWhinney added a shot on-goal for CNU in the 41st minute. 

With the match locked at 0-0, a pivotal whistle came in the 62nd minute of action when a CNU defender was called for a handball on a potential break for the Sea Gulls. It awarded Salisbury a free kick from about 20 yards out and resulted in the first goal of the match as Gavin Miller connected on a bender around the wall and into the right side of the netting. 

The Captains ramped up the offensive intensity after falling behind, 1-0, and Barry Jones nearly found the game-tying goal just two minutes later but his shot sailed wide. Then, another couple of minutes later a nice build down the right side saw McWhinney chip a pass across the middle that Luke Peri tried to head toward the goal but the ball whistled wide right. On the ensuing free kick, though, the Captains were able to control the ball again. 

The goalkeeper's kick was headed forward by Declan Karney and then to Peri in the middle. As McWhinney again found an attacker on the left side, the next pass was denied by a Salisbury defender. The clearance, though, was chested down to the ground by Colin Skwirut, who took one touch toward the top of the box, looked inside and ripped a left-footed bouncer into the box. The ball glanced off a defender and into the back of the netting for the equalizer and first goal of the season for the sophomore midfielder. 

Both teams had opportunities in the final 20 minutes but nothing got by the goalkeepers and Dewey finished the game with four saves, tied for the second most in a game this season. Asher Kuzemka and Karney each played 90 minutes in front of Dewey while Jack Otto, Caleb Jones, and Carson Friedlein all saw key minutes on the back line. 

Christopher Newport will travel to the University of Lynchburg for the final road game of the regular season next Saturday, October 26. Game time against the Hornets is scheduled for 7:00 pm.