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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fourth straight season last year, the fifth-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team will begin the next chapter in program history on Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Captains host Hampden-Sydney in the season opener at Jennings Family Stadium.
For those fans unable to attend the game, live stats will be available at CNUsports.com. The Captains will also provide a live video broadcast with Andy McGregor and Jake Myers calling all of the action. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
Christopher Newport enters the 2025 season as a consensus top-six program in the country after receiving high marks in all three national preseason polls. The Captains were slotted fifth by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and sixth by both
Inside Lacrosse and
USA Lacrosse Magazine.
Along with the team recognition, five players were also celebrated as Preseason All-Americans.
Warner Cabaniss and
Kevin Miller were both third-team selections, while
Mark Davison,
Brett Jackson, and
AJ Rosacker collected honorable mention plaudits. The five preseason honorees equaled the third-most in program history.
Coming off of a season in which the Captains advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals while compiling a 16-6 record, Christopher Newport graduated the largest senior class in school history. Overall, 23 fourth- and fifth-year seniors wrapped up their careers last season, including five All-Americans. Despite the departing standouts, this year's squad still returns six veterans who earned starting assignments in 2024.
Among the returning standouts, Davison and
Colin DeGrassi helped anchor the back line last year, while Jackson produced 32 goals after depositing 66 strikes during an All-American season in 2023. Meanwhile, Miller is the reigning Coastal Lacrosse Conference Rookie of the Year, and Cabaniss enters his senior season as a three-time All-American. One of the country's elite faceoff specialists, he already slots 23rd in Division III history with 536 career ground balls and 27th with 827 faceoff victories.
Headlined by Cabaniss, DeGrassi, and Jackson along with fifth-year Captains
Zack Sands and
Ryan Cammarata, Christopher Newport boasts a 10-person senior class. That is the program's smallest since the CoVID-shortened 2020 campaign featured just five seniors.
On the flipside, CNU's 15-member freshman class is its largest since 2021. The team also added four transfers after welcoming in High Point's
Ethan Slusher, Lindenwood's
Jack Martinez, Merrimack's
Rory Keverline, and St. Bonaventure's
Grant Giunchi.
Hampden-Sydney is looking to build upon a 2024 season in which the Tigers posted a 12-6 record while climbing as high as 17th in the national rankings. The program returns 35 lettermen from last year's team, including four starters. Among the veteran standouts, Conor Kilfeather was a second-team All-American in 2024, while Gaines Weis hauled in honorable mention plaudits.
Aided by their work last year, Kilfeather and Weis were both named second-team Preseason All-Americans by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Additionally, Campion White was an honorable mention selection by
Inside Lacrosse. Meanwhile, the Tigers also returned starting defensemen Jack Duffy and Tyler Steele as well as faceoff specialist Evan Yntema, who won 52 percent of his duels last year.
Saturday's contest will mark the 19th all-time meeting between the two programs with CNU holding an 11-7 edge in the series. Last year, the Tigers scampered out to an early 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes of regulation before the Captains battled back and stole a 15-9 triumph at Hampden-Sydney. Jackson and Cammarata both had a pair of goals for the victors, while White scored three times for H-SC.
After this weekend, Christopher Newport will return to action on February 15 for a home bout against Adrian at 1 p.m.
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