NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport men's soccer team extended its season opening unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win at home on Saturday afternoon as the Captains dropped Rutgers-Camden on a beautiful, sun-splashed afternoon at Captains Field. Junior defender Yazan Yaghmmour scored the game's lone goal in the 75th minute of action to position the home team for the win as CNU improved to 3-0-2 on the season. 

WIth the result, the Scarlet Raptors suffered their first loss of the season as CNU dropped Rutgers-Camden to 3-1-1 on the year. Christopher Newport is now 5-0-1 all-time against Rutgers-Camden including a 4-0-0 record at Captains Field. 

Both teams had early chances denied by the opposing defense as Dylan Pino for the visitors and Joe Summerfield each blazed line drives high of the goal. While most of the first half was played in the middle of the pitch, the Scarlet Raptors managed three shots on-goal to force senior goalkeeper Hayden Dewey into the action. Dewey saved all three, including a nice read on a blazing liner from the middle of the field, to keep Rutgers-Camden off the board. 

In the second half, the Captains ratcheted up the action moving forward and did a nice job controlling the midfield. Juniors Colin Skwirut and Miles Maggioncalda started and played in the midfield with senior Asher Kuzemka. The trio also got solid minutes off the bench from Bilal Hawa as the Captains eliminated building chances by the Scarlet Raptors through the veteran core. 

On the offensive end, CNU got a pair of chances by Maggioncalda on frame but Aleksander Nycz made the save on both tries. In the 61st minute, perhaps the best chance of the day was denied by a Rutgers-Camden defender when Ethan Arnolds made a nice pass across the box for fellow rookie Riley Usher. Usher crashed to the ball with a defender between him and the goal and his attempt was deflected out of bounds. 

Minutes later, Arnolds had an attempt of his own sail wide and Hawa added another shot blocked by a defender. With the building momentum, the Captains finally would connect in the 75th minute. After Ryan Buckon was fouled from behind just in front of the Scarlet Raptors bench, the Captains would have an opportunity to set up a set piece from the right side. Stepping up to take the free kick was Yaghmmour, with a host of Captains awaiting the connection in the box. 

The play was defended like a corner kick, but Yaghmmour's left-footed blast snuck through the crowd in the box and bounced into the left side of the goal. The All-Conference outside back picked up his first career goal with the score in his 42nd career game. 

With less than 15 minutes to play, the Captains shuffled in multiple players to help secure the shutout. On the back line, Yaghmmour was joined by Declan Karney, Carson Friedlein, Josh Monzon, and Ben Sullivan in a strong combined effort to hold the talented offense without a goal for the first time this season. Dewey made four saves in goal. 

CNU outshot Rutgers-Camden by a slim 13-11 margin but a dominant 8-4 edge in the second half proved to be the difference. 

The Captains will return to action on Sunday afternoon as CNU hosts Hampden-Sydney College at 1:00 p.m. The Tigers improved to 4-0-0 on Saturday with a 2-1 win against Virginia Wesleyan. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.