Live Stats // Video Stream

SALISBURY, Md. -- The sixth-ranked Christopher Newport field hockey team will return to action on Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Captains square off with No. 10 York (Pa.) during the NCAA Sweet 16 at Salisbury's Sea Gull Stadium.

CNU earned its spot after improving to 15-2 with a 4-0 victory over St. Mary's (Md.) in a first-round tilt on Wednesday. Meanwhile, York advanced in the playoffs after knocking off Johnson & Wales (Providence), 2-0, in the opening round. That win bumped the Spartans to 17-5 on the season.

The winner of Saturday's contest will move on to the Elite Eight for a showdown with either No. 1 Salisbury or No. 14 Lynchburg. The Sea Gulls and Hornets will meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday before the advancing teams battle on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The final team standing at the end of the weekend will earn a trip to the Final Four, which will begin on November 22 at Washington and Lee's Turf Field in Lexington, Virginia.

Tickets for this weekend's action will be $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, students, and children. Separate admission will be required for each day. Tickets can be purchased in advance at SUSeaGulls.com or in-person at the stadium one hour prior to the scheduled start time.

For those fans unable to attend the tournament, Salisbury will also provide live stats and a video stream of every game at SUSeaGulls.com. Those links can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.

Kicking off the postseason in style, Christopher Newport made history during the squad's first-round win over St. Mary's (Md.) on Wednesday. Against the Seahawks, Avery Mast deposited a pair of tallies, joining Lindsey Hendricks, Ashley Traylor, and Haylie Black as the only Captains to register a multi-goal effort in the NCAA Tournament. She also joined Jackie Kotoriy as the only freshmen to ever score a goal in the national playoffs.

Along with Mast, Courtney Hughlett handed out three assists. That marked the second-highest total by a Captain in the NCAA Tournament, trailing only CNU Hall of Famer Belle Tunstall's five-assist showcase against Gwynedd-Mercy on November 7, 2012.

On the defensive side, the Captains surrendered only two shots, which was the second-lowest total by an opponent in the NCAA Tournament in school history. Among the standouts on the back end, Brooke Billhimer, Lainey Pratzner, and Katie Abendschoen all started their fifth career game in the national playoffs. That is tied for the 10th-most by any player in program lore.

Among other historic achievements, Hughlett moved into a tie for the top spot on CNU's all-time single-season assists list with her 13th helper on Wednesday. That matched the program standard set by Haylie Black in 2006.

Approaching her own milestone, Billhimer has seven defensive saves this year, which places her one away from tying the single-season school record set by April Cullen in 2001 and matched by Jordan Snider and Chelsea Hines in 2013. Additionally, Lily Kerr has six shutouts this season, which is also one shy of matching the mark set by Bailey Lien in 2013 and equaled by Kerr in 2022.

Aided by the work of the entire defensive unit, CNU enters Saturday ranked first in the nation in save percentage (.871), third in goals-against-average (0.63), and third in shutouts-per-game (0.59). On an individual level, Kerr is fifth in goals-against-average (0.64) and sixth in save percentage (.851), while Hughlett is fourth in assists-per-game (0.76).

York has been equally stingy on the back end as the Spartans are third in the NCAA in save percentage (.857), fourth in goals-against-average (0.65), and ninth in shutouts-per-game (0.50). Belle Fields has been especially productive as she sits second in save percentage (.859) and third in goals-against-average (0.60). Libby Wild also ranks 12th in the country with nine defensive saves.

On Wednesday, York opened up the NCAA Tournament with a 2-0 triumph over Johnson & Wales (Providence). Wild and Kelbie Linebaugh both scored for the victors, while the defense did not surrender a single shot to the Wildcats. Overall, it was York's third all-time win in the NCAA Tournament and marked the program's 17th triumph this year, which established a new single-season school standard.

Saturday's contest will serve as a rematch of a regular-season battle that saw CNU upend York, 2-1, in Newport News on September 22. During that contest, Caroline Hughlett opened the scoring with a penalty stroke before Riley Buschert knotted the score in the second quarter. Then, in the 29th minute, Billhimer and Abendschoen connected on a successful corner, which gave the Captains a lead they would never relinquish.

Fields finished that game with nine saves for the Spartans, while Wild had a pair of defensive saves. For CNU, Kerr brushed aside five on-target shots, and Billhimer collected a defensive stop of her own.

---ISH---