CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The 15th-ranked Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team will face its third top-20 test of the season on Tuesday at 11 a.m. when the Captains square off with No. 19 St. John Fisher in a neutral-site tilt at the Countryside Sports Complex in Clearwater, Florida.
CNU enters the Spring Break battle with a 3-1 record, including a 1-1 ledger on the road. Meanwhile, St. John Fisher is 0-1 after opening its season with a 10-9 setback at Rochester last week.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a pair of hard-fought contests last week. The Captains upended Randolph-Macon, 14-9, on Wednesday before falling to Shenandoah on Saturday, 8-6.
Julia Iapicca led the squad with 10 points during the two outings, including five goals against the Yellow Jackets. For that performance, she was named the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week.
While Iapicca paced the offense,
Brookelyn Morrison pieced together a historic performance on the other end of the field. The second-year sensation forced seven turnovers against Randolph-Macon, which equaled the third-most in program history. She also collected seven ground balls during the contest, joining former legend Meagan Pfarr as the only Captains to notch at least seven takeaways and seven rollers in a single game.
Three days later, Morrison came back with four more strips at Shenandoah. With that performance, she became just the sixth player to record at least four takeaways in back-to-back bouts. Meanwhile, her 11 total caused turnovers equaled the most by a Captain in a two-game span, matching current teammate
Emma Jackson's haul during the first two outings of the 2023 campaign.
Overall, Christopher Newport is averaging over 10 takeaways per game in 2024. Morrison leads the conference with 13 total caused turnovers, while Iapicca is second with nine. Jackson and
Maddie Rusinko also slot in the top-10 among league performers with five and four, respectively.
Along with the defensive standouts, Iapicca ranks 21st in the nation with 17 goals, while
Kelsey Winters is 30th with eight assists. Iapicca's 20 total points also place her second among conference competitors.
St. John Fisher opened its season with a back-and-forth battle against Rochester on March 1. During the 60-minute thriller, the score was knotted four times before the Yellowjackets went on a three-goal spurt in the third quarter. Although SJF eventually cut its deficit down to one with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Cardinals could not muster the equalizer in the waning moments.
Mary Fiorentino led St. John Fisher with three points during the game, including a pair of goals. Kaley Griffin also struck twice, while Sydney Carpenter had a goal, five draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers. Between the pipes, Maggie Cross made one save in her 20 minutes of action, while Kaylee Gadol added five in relief.
Tuesday's match-up will mark the second meeting between the two programs. St. John Fisher collected a 13-9 win in San Juan, Puerto Rico on March 5, 2015. Former legend Catie Chess netted six points, including five goals, during that battle, while the victors were led by Kennedy Frink, who handed out five assists.
Following the Spring Break trip, Christopher Newport will return home on Sunday for a noon test against Rhodes.
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