NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Coming off a thrilling neutral-site victory over Dickinson College on Wednesday night, the Christopher Newport men's soccer team will look to carry momentum into the next chapter in a long-standing rivalry with the University of Mary Washington on Saturday night. Playing the Eagles for the 62nd time since 1977, the Captains will kick off at 6:00 p.m. against the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference foe.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available online free of charge with links found on the men's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com.
CNU has won back-to-back games and four of the last five heading into Saturday's matchup thanks to a thrilling 89th minute winner from
Josh Monzon on Wednesday night. Locked in a 0-0 stalemate, Monzon capitalized on a beautiful feed from senior
Michael Hackworth with less than 90 seconds remaining to carry Christopher Newport to the win over the Red Devils. With the win, CNU improved to 9-2-1 on the season.
Mary Washington is 5-5-2 on the year while facing one of the most challenging schedules in Division III this year. Ranked as the seventh-toughest schedule by the NCAA this year, the Eagles have dropped four of the last five with but the team also has a 2-2 draw against top-ten Lynchburg.
CNU and Mary Washington have played 61 times prior to Saturday's edition with the series featuring the slimmest of margins in favor of the Eagles. The Captains are 26-27-8 all-time against the familiar foe including a 15-10-4 record at Captains Field. The last time the two faced off was a 1-0 win for Mary Washington that tilted the all-time series in their favor last year.
This season, Christopher Newport has limited opponents to just 11 goals scored in 11 games for a 1.00 goals-against average that ranks 74th nationally. Offensively, CNU is scoring 2.45 goals per game on nearly 16 shot attempts per contest.
The team has been well-balanced offensively with
Riley Usher standing out as the team leader in scoring with 15 points (6g, 3a). Monzon became the 13th different goal scorer for the Captains this season with seven different players logging game-winning tallies. Senior
Drew McWhinney ranks second on the team in scoring with nine points (4g, 1a) and leads the team in gamewinners with a pair. Hackworth leads the team in assists with four and is tied for third on the squad with eight total points.
Mary Washington comes into the game being led by Andrew Brittain with 15 points (7g, 1 a) and a trio of players with two goals behind him. In goal, Zaine Asim has led the way with 10 starts and a 1.33 goals-against average in nearly 900 minutes played.
Following the home game against Mary Washington, the Captains will embark on a Tuesday trip to Methodist University on October 20. The game against the Monarchs will kickoff at 6:00 p.m.
