NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The week five rankings from the United Soccer Coaches were released on Tuesday listing the Christopher Newport women's soccer team at No. 3 for the second consecutive week. The third-ranked Captains will be back in action on Wednesday night as they welcome Southern Virginia University (4-4-3) in a non-conference mid-week matchup scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.
The game will be played as part of a doubleheader with the men's program, who will take on Washington and Lee starting at 5:00 p.m. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available for both games and links can be found at CNUsports.com.
Continuing its historic run among the elite programs in NCAA Division III, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team has been ranked in the top-25 in 67 straight polls dating back to the first regular season rankings released during the 2017 season. In those 67 rankings, the Captains have been listed among the top-ten in Division III in 34 straight and 53 total.
Led by head coach
Jamie Gunderson, Christopher Newport has not suffered a notch in the loss column in his entire coaching career. With a Division III record 77 consecutive games without a loss, the Captains are 69-0-8 since Gunderson accepted his first head coaching position prior to the 2021 season. CNU has also logged 37 straight home games without a loss, ranking 16th in Division III history.
This season, the Captains have added ten games to the overall streak, going 9-0-1 to start the year with a nine-game winning streak heading into Wednesday night. Leading the red-hot offense has been junior midfielder
Hanna Heaton who has a league-high 26 points on nine goals and eight assists this season. Heaton has factored into 13 of the last 14 goals scored by the Captains and has been named the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week three straight times. While she continues to be the offensive leader, the Captains have gotten multiple goals this season from
Emma Ricci,
Corinne Kulik, and
Alex Dalakis with three apiece.
Defensively, Christopher Newport has put together one of the most outstanding runs in Division III history with only nine goals allowed in the last 37 games. This season, CNU has seven shutouts in ten games, ranking 17th nationally in shutout percentage, and has surrendered just four goals for a 0.400 goals-against average, ranking 16th in Division III. Seniors
Reanna Slater and
Nyah Savage are joined by sophomore
Bella DiTommaso to make up the formidable back line playing in front of sophomore
Amy Sidaway, who has pieced together a second straight top-20 season nationally, statistically speaking, at this point in the season.
Southern Virginia, a former conference foe, comes into Captains Field riding a three-game winning streak and a four-game unbeaten streak. The Knights are now 4-4-3 this season after scoring 12 goals in the last three games. Maybel Harris leads the attack with 10 points on three goals and four assists. She is one of six players to start all 11 games this season including Sydney Bastian, who has a pair of goals scored this season.
Following the Wednesday matchup, the Captains hit the road again to take on conference rival Mary Washington this Saturday, October 12 at 1:00 p.m.
National - Poll 5 - October 8, 2024
| Rank |
School |
Prev |
W-L-T |
| 1 |
Washington University (Mo.) |
1 |
12-0-1 |
| 2 |
Amherst College |
2 |
6-0-3 |
| 3 |
Christopher Newport University |
3 |
9-0-1 |
| 4 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
4 |
8-0-4 |
| 5 |
Misericordia University |
5 |
9-1-1 |
| 6 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
7 |
8-1-1 |
| 7 |
Middlebury College |
6 |
6-0-3 |
| 8 |
Messiah University |
8 |
6-1-3 |
| 9 |
Johns Hopkins University |
9 |
6-1-3 |
| 10 |
The College of New Jersey |
10 |
9-0-2 |
| 11 |
Case Western Reserve University |
12 |
7-0-4 |
| 12 |
Ithaca College |
RV |
8-0-3 |
| 13 |
Washington & Lee University |
20 |
7-1-0 |
| 14 |
California Lutheran University |
17 |
7-0-4 |
| 15 |
Williams College |
15 |
6-2-2 |
| 16 |
Loras College |
19 |
11-0-0 |
| 17 |
New York University |
16 |
7-0-4 |
| 18 |
William Smith College |
11 |
6-3-2 |
| 19 |
Wesleyan University |
23 |
7-0-2 |
| 20 |
Emory University |
13 |
6-2-1 |
| 20 |
Calvin University |
18 |
6-2-2 |
| 20 |
University of Rochester |
14 |
7-1-2 |
| 23 |
Brandeis University |
21 |
9-2-0 |
| 24 |
McDaniel College |
22 |
8-1-2 |
| 25 |
Pacific Lutheran University |
RV |
6-1-3 |
Records shown are through games of October 6, 2024
Also receiving votes: Tufts University, University of Scranton, Rowan University, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, University of Chicago, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Rochester Institute of Technology, North Central College, Colby College
