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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport women's lacrosse team will face its third top-five test of the season on Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Captains host No. 5 Salisbury in a Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference contest at Jennings Family Stadium.
Entering the weekend, CNU sits at 7-8 on the year, including 1-5 at home. On the other side, Salisbury is 10-4 with a 3-3 mark on the road.
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.
With a victory, the Captains would lock up their first regular season league championship since they won seven straight titles in the USA South from 2007-13. Meanwhile, a victory by Salisbury would assure the Sea Gulls of at least a share of their seventh consecutive regular season crown dating back to 2018.
Saturday's game will mark CNU's third bout against a top-five team this year after previously dropping battles against No. 2 Tufts and No. 4 Gettysburg. With the weekend clash, the 2025 Captains will become the first squad in program history to face three different top-five teams during a single campaign.
Due in large part to their nationally-ranked duels this season, Christopher Newport currently boasts the fourth-toughest schedule of any program in the country. CNU's past and future opponents have combined for a .699 winning percentage this year, which trails only No. 6 Franklin & Marshall, No. 15 Trinity, and No. 25 Williams.
Looking to continue their starring work against nationally-ranked competition, several Captains have excelled in the earlier battles with top-five foes.
Kate Lamendola scored against Tufts and Gettysburg, while
Brookelyn Morrison and
Page Henry had a point in both outings. Morrison also notched a team-high four caused turnovers in those appearances, while
Madi Rozgonyi added eight draw controls, three takeaways, and four ground balls.
Remarkably, Saturday's game would be Rozgonyi's 10th career outing against a squad ranked in the top-five of the IWLCA National Coaches Poll. Putting that into perspective, over the course of the first 12 years of the CNU women's lacrosse program, the Captains faced eight total top-five teams.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a 17-3 victory at Mary Washington in the league opener last Saturday. The 14-goal victory was the program's largest in a conference game since 2019 and the most lopsided result in the history of the rivalry with UMW. Headlining the action, Morrison registered six points, while
Faith O'Connor matched her career-high with five goals.
Coupled with her five-goal outburst at No. 17 Roanoke on April 5, O'Connor became just the third Captain in the past six years to post at least five goals in back-to-back road games.
Meanwhile, on the defensive end,
Maddie Rusinko collected three caused turnovers and was celebrated as the league's Defensive Player of the Week for that performance. Lamendola and
Grace Taylor also had two strips apiece as the Captains held Mary Washington scoreless for 54 straight minutes during the middle of the contest.
Salisbury comes into Saturday after dropping a 10-9 overtime decision against Messiah on Wednesday. That snapped a five-game winning streak by the Sea Gulls, which included victories over No. 9 York (Pa.) and No. 12 TCNJ.
Despite the recent stumble, Salisbury still ranks 11th in the NCAA in clearing percentage (.881) and boasts the league's top scoring offense, which is averaging 12.57 goals per game. On an individual level, Audrey Harrington leads the Sea Gulls with 52 points, including 31 assists. Miranda Mears also has 35 goals, while Paige Ellis leads the conference with an 8.39 goals-against-average and .455 save percentage.
In 29 previous meetings between the two programs, Salisbury holds a 29-0 lead in the series. Last year, the Sea Gulls picked up a pair of victories, including a 15-4 win in the league championship.
After Saturday, Christopher Newport will wrap up the regular season on April 26 with a 3 p.m. showdown against No. 9 Washington and Lee at Jennings Family Stadium.
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