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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The fifth-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team will begin a two-game road swing on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. when the Captains travel to Catholic for a non-conference test at Cardinal Stadium.
Entering the midweek match-up, CNU sits at 8-0 on the season, including 4-0 on the road. Meanwhile, Catholic is 5-6 with a 1-3 ledger at home.
For those fans unable to attend the game, live stats will be available at CatholicAthletics.com. The Cardinals will also provide a broadcast of the action through FloSports, which is a paid subscription service. Links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
Christopher Newport comes into the contest after completing the squad's fourth shutout of the year during a 5-0 triumph over Centre on Saturday. Against the Colonels, the Captains did not surrender a single shot or corner, marking just the third time since 2019 that CNU held an opponent without either one during an entire 60-minute battle.
Aided by their work over the week, the Captains now rank fourth in the NCAA in scoring defense (0.50 goals-against-average) and sixth in save percentage (.846). On an individual level,
Lily Kerr is third in the NCAA with a 0.43 goals-against-average, while
Kendall Gibson leads the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference with a pair of defensive saves.
Ella Fallen also saw extended action between the pipes on Saturday as the sophomore goalie matched her career-high with 30 minutes of work. Including her flawless appearance against Centre, she has now taken part in 11 games over the past two seasons and blanked the opposition in nine of those outings. Meanwhile, her 0.59 goals-against-average is now the third-lowest career rate in school history.
On the offensive end, CNU is averaging 3.25 goals per game, which ranks 23rd in the NCAA.
Maddison Steele leads the team with six strikes, including a career-high five-point eruption against Centre on Saturday. Additionally,
Courtney Hughlett ranks ninth in the nation in assists per contest with a stellar 0.75 average.
Adding her own historic footnote on the offensive side of the ball, freshman
Morgan Shealer scored twice while earning her first career start in the team's win over the Colonels. With that performance, she became just the sixth player in program history to post a pair of goals in her first collegiate start, joining current teammate
Katie Abendschoen and former standouts Lily Bryngelson, Kelsey Rigby, Anne Gehring, and Beverly Waller.
Catholic enters Wednesday after knocking off No. 25 Scranton, 2-1, during a road battle over the weekend. Tess Hake and Niki Micciche both scored for the Cardinals, while Ella Bowman added seven saves, including a momentum-turning stop on a penalty stroke in the third quarter.
Facing a daunting schedule in 2024, the Cardinals have already faced three nationally-ranked opponents, including setbacks against No. 2 Salisbury and No. 19 TCNJ. However, Catholic is off to a 3-0 start in the Landmark Conference, which the program last won in 2022. On an individual level, Micciche and Oli Bond are tied for the team-lead with 11 points, while Emma Shallow is 16th in the NCAA with four defensive saves.
In 19 previous meetings between the two programs, Christopher Newport holds a 13-6 edge in the series. Last year, the Captains notched a 2-1 win in Newport News as
Maddison Steele and
Lindsey Loar connected on second-half strikes for the victors.
Following Wednesday's showdown, CNU will continue its road swing on October 16 with a trip to No. 2 Salisbury at 4 p.m.
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