LEESBURG, Va. -- Locked in a stalemate for nearly full time, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team would not be denied a win against Dickinson College (6-6-2) on Wednesday night when the Captains found a game-winning finish in the 89th minute of action. With less than 90 seconds left to play, senior
Michael Hackworth worked by a defender on the goal line and slipped a pinpoint pass in front of the keeper where junior
Josh Monzon was there for the finish.
Christopher Newport captured a 1-0 win at RavenTek Park in Leesburg, Va. in front of a healthy neutral site crowd in Northern Virginia. The Captains improved to 9-2-1 with the win behind Monzon's first career goal.
The winning play was the highlight of a hard-fought 90-minute battle against the Red Devils as the two teams combined for seven corner kicks, 16 total shots, and 29 fouls.
With the match destined for a draw, the Captains leaned on the wingers for the clinching combination. After the defense collected a loose ball deep in their own zone, a long ball was played up the middle where
Manzi Siibo redirected a touch to
Carson Friedlein on the left side. Friedlein wasted no time with a first touch pass over the top of the defense into the corner for Hackworth, who then went to work with clinical composure.
His first touch was to the goal line and he sprinted by the first defender; he then got to the ball first, took two dribbles and found the perfect seam between the sliding goalkeeper and the rest of the Dickinson defense. On the receiving end, the Captains had options, with both
Drew McWhinney and
Josh Monzon crashing toward the goal; it was Monzon, beating a defender to the ball, who got through first, connecting from inside the six with a finish that sent the Captains faithful into a frenzy.
Prior to the theatrics, the Captains had a handful of opportunities that did not pay off, including a goal that was called off early in the first half. Hackworth put in a left-footed bender off a feed from McWhinney in the box, but the officials ruled he was a step offside in the seventh minute of action. Minutes later, a nice feed around a defender for
Joe Summerfield resulted in an outside-footed laser off the goalkeepers hands.
The CNU defense did a solid job limiting opportunities for the Red Devils, but a reaction save by
Matt Yates kept the game square at nil-nil in the 73rd minute. Darian Crim was open in the box for a short-range rip and Yates made a quick decision to get his fingertips on the shot enough to watch it carom off the left post.
It was the lone save required as Friedlein,
Jackson Carlyon,
Declan Karney, and
Ben Sullivan did strong work on the back line for the Captains. Dickinson recorded just three total shots in each half.
The assist by Hackworth was his fourth of the season and eighth career helper. Monzon registered his first career goal in his 47th game played.
Christopher Newport will return to action against Mary Washington this Saturday, October 17 at 6:00 p.m. CNU hosts the game at Captains Field with live stats and a live video webcast available at CNUsports.com.
