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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Kicking off the NCAA Tournament, the fourth-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team will open the postseason on Saturday at noon when the Captains host Grove City in a second-round showdown at Jennings Family Stadium.

Following CNU's contest, No. 15 Stevenson and No. 16 Lynchburg will square off in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader at 3 p.m. The winning teams will advance to Sunday's third-round tilt, which will also take place at 3 p.m.

Tickets for Saturday's action will be $10 for adults and $5 for seniors, students, and children. CNU students will be admitted free with a valid university ID.

For those fans unable to attend the games this weekend, live stats will be available at CNUsports.com. The Captains will also provide a broadcast of all three contests with Andy McGregor and Jake Myers calling the action. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.

Christopher Newport secured an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling to No. 2 Salisbury, 13-12, in an overtime thriller during the Coastal Lacrosse Conference Championship on Sunday. The Captains have now advanced to the playoffs during each of the past five seasons and earned seven total bids since making their tournament debut in 2013.

Among the team's most experienced competitors on the national stage, seniors Brett Jackson and Warner Cabaniss have appeared in all 10 NCAA playoff games since 2022. During that time, Jackson has scored 19 career postseason goals, including four-goal eruptions against No. 7 Gettysburg in the third round of the 2023 tournament and at No. 2 RIT during the 2024 quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Cabaniss ranks first in program history with 119 faceoff victories and 81 ground balls during NCAA Tournament action. Overall, he has won 58 percent of his 204 total faceoff attempts during the national playoffs.

Along with Jackson and Cabaniss, 16 other members of the 2025 roster have made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament at some point over the past four years. Among those, Colin DeGrassi started all three games on the back line last season, while Kevin Miller posted six points, including five assists, during his three appearances as a freshman in 2024.

Following his debut campaign, Miller has continued to torment the opposition as a sophomore this spring. The second-year standout enters the playoffs with 67 assists, which currently leads the NCAA and already stands as the all-time single-season program record. He is just three helpers shy of notching his 70th this season, which would make him just the 22nd player in Division III history to reach that plateau.

Miller could also become just the seventh sophomore in NCAA history to post a 70-assist season. In that exclusive club, he would join Kean's Will Van Dorn (92 in 1998), Amherst's Quinn Moroney (80 in 2014), Merrimack's Sean Black (75 in 2019), Hobart's Rick Gilbert (75 in 1972), Denison's Peter Pittroff (74 in 2018), and Moravian's Clint Quedenfeld (70 in 2005).

Approaching program history as well, Miller is four points away from notching his 100th point of the season. He could become just the third Captain to reach that benchmark, joining former All-Americans Dylan Rice (105 in 2022) and Andrew Cook (102 in 2024).

Entering the postseason, several other standouts are also chasing milestones this spring. Jamie Smith currently ranks third in the NCAA with 70 goals, which is just two shy of matching Rice's all-time program record of 72 set in 2022. He is also one man-up goal away from tying Jackson's single-season standard of 13, which he accomplished in 2023. Meanwhile, Jackson is tied with Rice for the most man-up goals in a career after landing his 25th against Salisbury in the league championship on Sunday.

Jackson is also four points shy of reaching 200 for his career, which would make him the seventh Captain to accomplish that feat.

Aided by the work of Smith and Jackson on the man-up unit, Christopher Newport has converted 56 percent of its power play opportunities, which currently ranks second in the NCAA. The Captains are also 13th nationally in takeaways-per-game (12.84), 14th in clearing percentage (.886), 15th in faceoff percentage (.653), and 16th in scoring offense (16.47 goals-per-game).

Grove City advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after knocking off Albion, 18-3, in the opening battle on Wednesday. That midweek match-up was the first time the Wolverines hosted a game in the national playoffs in program history. It also marked the team's sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship every year since 2019.

Similar to the Captains, several Wolverines are approaching program records. Senior Zachary Hougan has 112 career assists, which is just three shy of tying Michael La Forte's Grove City record of 115 set from 2019-22. He also has 82 points this year, just three away from equaling Henry Brannan's single-season standard of 85 established in 2019.

Along with Hougan, Matt Blythe enters Saturday with 215 career goals. That not only ranks seventh among all active players in the NCAA, but it is also just two away from matching Brett Gladstone's school record of 217 set from 2019-23.

So far this season, Grove City ranks fifth in the nation in faceoff percentage (.696) and sixth in both scoring offense (17.86 goals-per-game) and shooting percentage (.358). On an individual level, Luke Rios is 11th in the country with a .685 faceoff percentage, while Stewart McClain is 15th with 10 man-up goals. Sawyer Strong also boasts a .551 shooting percentage, which is the second-highest mark in the NCAA.

Saturday's tilt will be a rematch of a regular-season thriller that saw the Captains edge the Wolverines, 14-13, in double-overtime on March 1. After Grove City grabbed a 13-12 lead with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Logan Shassian landed the equalizer in the 58th minute before Jackson punctuated the festivities in the 66th.

During that contest, Shassian and Jackson both had three points for the victors, while Cabaniss won 16 of his 27 faceoffs. For Grove City, Hougan collected seven points, including five goals, and Danny Stone pocketed 13 saves.

The final team left standing at the end of the weekend will advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals, which will be held on March 17.

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