SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Ending the third longest run of games without a loss in NCAA Soccer history, the second-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team suffered its first loss since 2019 on Sunday afternoon as the host and #2-seeded UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs captured the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Championship with a 2-0 win over the Captains. 

The first loss in the career of head coach Jamie Gunderson came in his 85th career game leading Christopher Newport women's soccer. It is believed that he owns an NCAA record for consecutive games without a loss to start a head coaching career as prior to Sunday's setback he and the Captains had compiled an NCAA Division III record with a 74-0-9 mark. Due to the 2020 season being canceled because of the CoVID-19 pandemic, Christopher Newport had not suffered a loss in just seven days shy of five full calendar years (Nov. 17, 2019). Only the historic championship Division I North Carolina programs of the 90's have had longer streaks with runs of 103 and 101 games in NCAA soccer history. 

The historical streak ended on the road to second-seeded UC Santa Cruz in the conference championship game where the Banana Slugs captured their first conference tournament championship in any sport and the ninth overall with four men's and four women's cross country titles. 

With the loss, Christopher Newport falls to 15-1-2 overall while UC Santa Cruz improves to 10-2-5 on the year. The Banana Slugs secured the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship while the Captains have put together a resume worthy of postseason consideration. The bracket will be released on Monday, November 11 at 2:00 p.m. during a selection show on NCAA.com. 

The Captains surrendered the lead in the 17th minute off a corner kick that developed into a long range shot for Kristi Truong. The All-Conference defender took a left-footed shot that bounced once in the box before sneaking into the right side of the goal. 

Christopher Newport was calm and collected the remainder of the first half, looking for the game-tying goal and coming close on a number of chances. Corinne Kulik crossed a ball over to Emma Ricci and the bounce left her alone on the back post beyond the defense. Her first touch was a little too tough to handle but she managed to get a hard shot from close range on target, but was saved by the Banana Slugs keeper. 

Hanna Heaton had two early chances denied with one sailing wide left and the other stopped by the keeper after not quite getting everything she had on the shot. On the ensuing run down the field for Santa Cruz, the Captains managed to stop the movement forward and looked to reset through the defense. Unfortunately, a pass between defenders was intercepted by Camille Aneet about 30 yards away from the goal and the Slugs top forward was alone with only the keeper to beat. She got into the box and launched a left-footed shot into the right pocket, over the outstretched hands of Amy Sidaway for the second score of the game. 

Facing a two-goal deficit for the first time in Gunderson's career and the first time since that fateful last loss in 2019, the Captains were in unfamiliar territory heading into halftime. CNU nearly got on the board in the final minute of the first half when Ellie Diehl played a short pass back to AP Webb and her rip from the top of the box was on target, but the Slugs keeper made a diving save, knocking the ball away just inches to the right of the goal. It marked one of ten saves in the game by Ainsley Gove, the C2C Rookie of the Year. 

The Captains continued to ratchet up the offensive pressure in the second half as they looked to get on the board against UC Santa Cruz. Just over eight minutes into the second stanza, sophomore Lexi Hazelgrove had back-to-back chances with a shot blocked by a defender and a second chance that whistled high and wide. Moments later, it was Kulik who had a chance on target after a nice pass across from Ricci was nearly cleared by the Banana Slugs. Kulik got to the bouncing ball and spun a shot toward the goal but Gove grabbed another save. 

One of the best chances of the game came in the final ten minutes when senior Ellie Cox tried to get CNU on the board with a shot from the top of the box. Heaton created the chance with a fantastic flick beyond her defender to give her space to find Cox in the middle. Unfortunately, the shot screamed on frame but right at the Slugs goalkeeper. 

One final offensive push by UC Santa Cruz challenged sophomore goalkeeper Amy Sidaway twice on back-to-back plays in the final five minutes, but this time the second-year star made a highlight-reel save and got a tremendous helper from Emma Ricci. With just over four minutes left, the Banana Slugs got a shot on target Sydney Boyd from long distance and Sidaway ranged to her left, leaped and punched away the shot. On the ensuing corner kick, Santa Cruz had another shot on an open net but Ricci was positioned perfectly to knock away the would-be third goal. 

Christopher Newport boasted three All-Tournament team selections as Emma Ricci, Ellie Cox, and defender Nyah Savage. Savage was making her 85th consecutive start, moving into a tie for the third most in program history with Gabby Gillis (2015-18). She trails only Keiley McCarthy (87 games) and Riley Cook (86 games) all-time at CNU. 

Overall, the Captains held a 16-8 edge in total shots including an 11-5 tally in attempts on target.