SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Advancing to the conference championship game for the fourth straight season, the second-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team controlled possession and dominated defensively in a 4-0 win over Salisbury University (5-6-7) on a sunny California afternoon on Friday. Downing the Sea Gulls in the semifinal round, Christopher Newport improved to 15-0-2 and will take on either #2 UC Santa Cruz or #3 Mary Washington in Sunday's championship game at 10:00 am PT/2:00 pm ET. 

The Captains outshot Salisbury, 16-2, and did not allow a single attempt until the 87th minute, showcasing the patented suffocating defense that has caused opponents fits throughout their NCAA record unbeaten streak, which grew to 84 games (75-0-9). 
 
In the eighth minute of action, the Captains earned the first set piece of the game with a corner kick taken by junior Hanna Heaton. Her ball was headed off a defender by Reanna Slater and the bounce found Corinne Kulik open for a swing on the back side of the play. Her shot was also blocked but ricocheted into the middle of the box where Emma Ricci was free to smash a right-footed laser into the back of the goal.
 
Her strike was the fifth goal of her season and held up as her second game-winning goal. Her 19^th career goal was her third career postseason goal and adding her 22^nd career assist later in the game, Ricci now has an even 60 career points after Friday's contest.
 
In the first half, the Captains defense bowed only once on a counter attack that saw a Sea Gulls forward on a footrace to the ball in the center of the field. Before she could get a touch, though, Slater reached the ball first and powered through contact to get a pass to Ellie Cox in the middle. The veteran combination led to a clearance before a shot could be made and the defense as a whole limited Salisbury to zero attempts in the first 45 minutes.
 
Heaton forced a highlight-reel save in the 44^th minute when Cox found her wide open in the middle of the field from about 25 yards out. The C2C Offensive Player of the Year smoked a hard shot on target but the Salisbury keeper leaped to keep it out of the netting. The pressure kept coming with two corner kicks in the final 30 seconds of the half and CNU would connect on the second goal just before the clock expired.
 
From the corner spot, Heaton crossed to the back post where junior midfielder Kyleigh Gough headed a pass back into the middle of the box and sophomore Alex Dalakis jumped up, connecting on a header into the center of the goal. It marks her fourth score of the season while Heaton notched her 13^th assist and Gough her second.
 
In the second half, the dangerous Captains attack struck again in the 60^th minute after a methodical build from the back line. The ball got passed around the defense until Bella DiTommaso found Cox for a long run into the midfield. After taking on a pair, Cox turned and dropped back to DiTommaso; the sophomore defender surveyed the field and saw Ricci on the run down the right side. Her chip over the defense set Ricci loose for a free run at the goal line – the fifth-year senior then delivered a low pass across the middle where sophomore Lexi Hazelgrove crashed through to one-touch home the score.
 
After a free kick taken by Kyleigh Gough, the Captains built another beautiful goal in the 75th minute of action. A foul whistled about 35 yards away from the goal put a load of options on the table for Gough, but she elected to play short to Avery Spell in the midfield. Her quick touch back through the center found Cox, and she played it out wide for rookie Bella Aguayo. With no one in front of her, Aguayo lofted a cross over the goal mouth to the back post where another Bella lay in wait for a header goal. Sophomore Bella Ventimiglia got away from her defender and directed a perfect header back across into the netting for the fourth goal of the game.

With two goals in either half, the Captains offense highlighted the day, but the defense was particularly impressive against the Sea Gulls. The aforementioned group of Slater, Gough, DiTommaso and Aguayo were key in the clean sheet while sophomore Amy Sidaway made one save to lock up the shutout. Nyah Savage also made her 84th consecutive start and played nearly 80 minutes in the game on the back line. 

Sunday's championship game will provide CNU a chance to win a fourth straight title and the seventh in the last eight seasons. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available with links at CNUsports.com.