Live Stats // Video Stream
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The seventh-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team will kick off postseason action on Wednesday at 1 p.m. when the Captains host Stockton in the semifinals of the Coastal Lacrosse Conference Tournament at Jennings Family Stadium.
Entering the midweek clash, CNU boasts a 13-4 record, including an 8-2 ledger at home. Meanwhile, Stockton sits at 11-7 after knocking off Montclair State in the first round of the league tournament on Sunday.
For those fans unable to attend the game, live stats and a video stream of the action will be available at CNUsports.com. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a thrilling 12-8 victory over No. 10 Washington and Lee in the regular season finale on Saturday. Against the Generals, CNU grabbed a lead just three minutes into regulation and never looked back.
Alex Brendes led the attack with four points, including his eighth hat-trick of the year, while
Coby Auslander handed out four assists. Meanwhile,
Brett Jackson landed his 100th career goal, becoming the ninth Captain to reach that mark.
Along with the offensive standouts,
Warner Cabaniss established a new program record for career faceoff victories after wrapping up the day with 780. That topped the previous mark of 773, which was set by former All-American Tony Cruz from 2015-18. Additionally, on the defensive end,
Zac Hanway pocketed 16 saves, while
Ryan Young collected his 200th career ground ball. With that, Young joined former legends Phoenix Hines and Teddy Pekalski as the only non-faceoff specialists to reach that mark.
Following his outburst against Washington and Lee, Brendes is just six points shy of reaching 300 for his career. He would become just the second Captain to accomplish that feat, joining former All-American Dylan Rice, who notched 339 from 2018-22. Meanwhile, he has also made 84 career appearances, matching Hines and Max Wayne for the all-time program record.
Among other approaching milestones, Auslander is two goals shy of the 100th of his career, while
Andrew Cook is two strikes away from his 50th of the year. If he were to reach that mark, Cook would become the first Captain with three consecutive 50-goal campaigns. Previously, only Rice had three in a career, reaching the mark in 2018, 2019, and 2022.
On a national level, Hanway also enters Wednesday just 39 minutes shy of becoming the fifth goalie in the history of collegiate lacrosse to reach 4,000 career minutes. Incredibly, he is less than 100 minutes shy of climbing to second on the all-time NCAA charts and 356 away from matching the collegiate record set by Gettysburg's Pat Vaughan from 2004-07.
Stockton punched its ticket to the semifinals of the conference tournament after rallying from a seven-goal deficit during a 12-10 win over Montclair State on Sunday. Trailing 8-1 in the third quarter, the Ospreys knotted the game at nine less than a minute into the final stanza before adding the game's last three strikes to pull off the stunning come-from-behind victory.
During the game, Brendan McHale notched four points, including the equalizer in the fourth quarter. Connor Albrecht also landed three goals, including the game-winner, while Tyler Horvath won 17 of his 24 faceoffs and nabbed 12 ground balls. Defensively, Matt Gibson collected four takeaways, while Ben Blum had 14 saves.
Overall this season, Horvath ranks 22nd in the nation in ground-balls-per-game (9.39) and 70th in faceoff percentage (.596).
CNU and Stockton last met on April 20 when the Captains posted a 20-8 win in Newport News. Cook led the victors with five points, while
Robby Adams added four goals. Cabaniss also claimed 14 of his 17 faceoffs and notched 10 ground balls.
The winner of Wednesday's game will advance to the conference championship, which will be held on Sunday at the highest remaining seed. The other semifinal bout features No. 1 Salisbury hosting fourth-seeded Kean.
---ISH---
