SALISBURY, Md. -- Closing out the 2025 regular season in wild fashion, the 22nd-ranked Captains went back-and-forth with the Sea Gulls of Salisbury University on the road Saturday afternoon before settling for a 3-3 draw. Christopher Newport wraps up the 2025 campaign with a 10-2-5 overall record and will host the conference tournament at Captains Field starting on Thursday, November 6. 

Senior Caleb Jones factored into two of the three CNU goals with a goal and an assist while Joe Summerfield and Yazan Yaghmmour also scored for the Captains. But each time the Captains found the back of the net, the home team had an answer. The back-and-forth battle saw CNU take one-goal leads three times but Salisbury answered the call with game-tying scores every time. 

The Captains scored twice in the first half and pulled head, 3-2, with 33 minutes remaining in the second half. Salisbury added their fifth draw of the season and closed the regular season with a 7-5-5 overall record. 

CNU got things started on a goal by Caleb Jones from inside the box. After the Captains put the ball in the box twice, a defender attempted to clear away the second but it reached Asher Kuzemka for another insertion. This time, the defender slid but the ricochet found Jones waiting in the box and the senior sent a sizzling line drive into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. 

Salisbury scored on a back-post header off a corner kick after the initial header pass set up the score by Peter Biel in the 31st minute. Before the Sea Gulls could catch their breath, though, the Captains followed with a nearly identical score to re-take the lead, 2-1, in the 33rd minute. On another corner kick, this time taken by Josh Monzon of the Captains, Declan Karney directed a header toward the middle of the six-yard box and Summerfield was there to redirect the ball by the keeper for his fourth goal of the season. 

The home team equalized again in the 39th minute to send the teams into the intermission knotted up at two goals apiece. 

In the second, both teams continued to pressure the opposing defenses but again it was Christopher Newport who pulled ahead first. In the 58th minute, the Captains took advantage of a set piece just outside the box when a foul was whistled on the left side of the field. Jones stepped up and delivered a low bouncer on frame that the goalkeeper could not corral and Yaghmmour raced in to finish on the rebound to give CNU a 3-2 lead. 

This time, the Captains held the advantage for over 15 minutes, but Salisbury eventually connected again in the 83rd minute for the final tally. Gavin Miller scored on a free kick from just outside the box and the game finished in a 3-3 draw. 

The host Sea Gulls held a slight advantage in total shots, 15-12, but the Captains had seven shots on goal to Salisbury's five. Yaghmmour led the attack with seven total shots, four on-target, while Summerfield took two shots including one on frame. 

CNU will now focus on the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, set to be played at Captains Field next weekend. The quarterfinals will be played at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 6 while the semifinals are set for the same time on Friday, November 7. The 2025 C2C Champion will be crowned after the title game on Sunday, scheduled for 10:00 a.m. with the possibility of being moved to Noon by mutual agreement of the advancing coaches.