LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Opening up the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament at the University of Lynchburg with a neutral site matchup, the 22nd-ranked Christopher Newport Captains (12-2-5) will take on Berry College (Ga.) at 3:30 p.m. The game will be the second of the Lynchburg pod which features the host Hornets against Transylvania at 1:00 p.m.
On Sunday, the advancing teams will match up in the second round at 3:00 p.m. All three games will be played at Shellenberger Field on the Lynchburg campus. Tickets are
available online here -- general admission tickets are $11 with seniors and student pricing set at $6 apiece.
For fans unable to make the trip to central Virginia, live stats and a live video webcast will be available online. Links to both can be found on the men's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com as well as on the
Lynchburg Tournament website here.
CNU is making the team's 15th NCAA Tournament appearance including the fifth time since 2019. The Captains have won at least one game in six straight postseason appearances dating back to the 2014 campaign.
The Captains won the 2025 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship with a 1-0 win over Salisbury University on Sunday afternoon. Senior
Caleb Jones was named the C2C Tournament MVP after scoring two goals and adding one assist in two tournament games. Jones is now leading the Captains with 11 points on four goals and three assists while
Joe Summerfield (4g, 2a) and
Carson Friedlein (4g, 2a) have each added 10 points.
Friedlein has started 18 games at center back this season as part of the Captains' dominant defense.
Declan Karney,
Yazan Yaghmmour, and
Ben Sullivan have helped anchor the back line that has allowed just 13 goals in 19 games this season. In goal, senior
Hayden Dewey has a 0.67 goals-against average, ranking as the fifth best single-season mark in program history while also ranking fifth in save percentage with an .826 mark. With the shutout against Salisbury, Dewey tied the program record with 10, matching Rick Longobardi (1986), Martin Zelada (2000), and Justin Wolfe (2010, 2011).
Berry will counter with an impressive defense of their own, ranking in the top-25 nationally in save percentage with a .825 mark. The Vikings, champions of the Southern Athletic Association, has ten shutouts this year while being led by junior goalkeeper Cooper Cherry. Cherry was named the SAA Tournament MVP after making 21 saves in the conference tournament including a season-high 11 against Southwestern in the conference final. Offensively, Jack Raulston leads the Berry attack with 12 total goals with eight gamewinners.
