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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Riding a five-game winning streak to open the 2025 campaign, the Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team jumped to fourth in the USILA National Coaches Poll ahead of Wednesday's battle with John Carroll, which will take place at Jennings Family Stadium beginning at 11 a.m.
After holding down the No. 5 spot in each of the last two polls, the Captains moved up to fourth after securing 446 points in the latest release, which was announced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association on Monday afternoon. In the poll, Tufts, RIT, and Salisbury continued to hold down the top-three positions, while RPI rounded out the top-five.
Three of CNU's first five opponents earned recognition in the USILA poll. Stevenson was slotted 19th in the rankings, while Grove City and Hampden-Sydney both received votes.
Along with the team's past opposition, Christopher Newport also faces several nationally-ranked battles in the future. The Captains have upcoming dates with No. 1 Tufts, No. 3 Salisbury, No. 9 Washington and Lee, No. 10 Gettysburg, and No. 18 Lynchburg.
CNU will be back in action on Wednesday when the team hosts John Carroll. 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 can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
The Captains are coming off of a busy weekend in which they upended Grove City, 14-13, during a double-overtime thriller on Saturday before knocking off Scranton, 17-7, on Sunday. During the two games,
Brett Jackson led the team with seven points, including the game-winner against Grove City in the 66th minute.
Logan Shassian also found the back of the cage five times during the two victories, while
Kevin Miller handed out a team-high four assists.
Along with the usual offensive standouts, Christopher Newport received key contributions from a variety of individuals over the weekend. The Captains landed four pole goals as
Mark Davison sank a pair, while
AJ Rosacker and
Brett Kelley had one each. Overall, 20 different players notched a point during the two games.
In just five appearances this season, 30 Captains have registered at least one point. Putting that into perspective, that is only one shy of matching the total number of players who scored during last year's 22-game schedule.
As a team, Christopher Newport currently ranks seventh in the NCAA in scoring offense with an 18.00 goals-per-game average. CNU is also third in total assists (56) and fourth in points (146). Meanwhile, the defense is 11th in the country in takeaways-per-game with a 14.40 rate. Kelley leads the team with 14 strips, while Davison, Jackson, Rosacker, and
Colin DeGrassi all have at least five takeaways apiece.
Sitting at 2-1 on the season, John Carroll comes into the week after knocking off Wooster, 10-9, during an overtime battle on Saturday. After watching a four-goal lead evaporate in the final five minutes of regulation, the Blue Streaks bounced back in the extra session as Nicholas Yemma won the opening faceoff before Braden Zarek scored just 42 seconds later.
So far this year, Zarek ranks 21st in the NCAA in assists-per-game (3.00) and 27th in points-per-game (6.00). Additionally, Sean Keane is 11th in the country with a .667 shooting percentage to go with a pair of man-up tallies. Meanwhile, Yemma has a .443 faceoff percentage, and Devin Holder boasts a .500 save percentage and 12.24 goals-against-average.
Slotted first in the Ohio Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, John Carroll has made eight consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including five trips to the second round.
Wednesday's meeting will be the first ever showdown between the two programs.
After their midweek match-up, the Captains will return to action on Saturday with a trip to Roanoke at 2 p.m.
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