NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Putting together a relentless effort for 90 minutes on Sunday night, the Christopher Newport women's soccer team captured a 6-0 win over Regent University and improved to 9-2-3 overall on the season. Rookie
Alessi Carrier recorded her second brace of the week and senior defender
Bella DiTommaso made history with three assists to help lead the offensive explosion.
As a team, the Captains registered 53 total shots in the game to rank as the third most in a single game in program history. The unforgiving attack featured 20 shots in the first half and 33, a new team record for a half, in the second period. Of them, 25 were put on target which marked the highest number of shots on goal by at CNU team since taking 27 against Staten Island in the NCAA Tournament opening round on November 10, 2018.
Highlighting the production was freshman
Alessi Carrier with her second two-goal performance of the week after scoring twice against Southern Virginia on Tuesday. Carrier wasted no time getting on the board in Sunday's matchup against Regent with a goal in the first minute of action. She then scored her second goal less than two and a half minutes later and appeared to have a hat trick within the first five minutes but her third tally was negated by an offsides whistle.
In the first minute, the Captains took advantage of an early foul and scored on a restart from the right side. DiTommaso took the kick and on the receiving end
Ellie Diehl got her head on the ball for a pass to the back post. Carrier was waiting ready and immediately punched in the shot for the score. The second score came when
Bella Aguayo played a nice lead pass down the right sideline to find DiTommaso on the run. After getting by a defender, DiTommaso launched another excellent cross into the box over Diehl and to the foot of the wide open Carrier. She doubled the lead with a quick shot into the left side to make it 2-0.
The Captains' defense surrendered just two shots in the game but the first came in the eighth minute when Lauren Pond had a chance for long distance that was on frame. Senior goalkeeper
Amy Sidaway was there for the stop and the Captains would not allow another shot by the Regent attack until the 84th minute. On that play, Regent got a two players in a numbers advantage on a run down the field but rookie goalkeeper
Sarah Graham was ready to protect the net when the shot sailed wide. The duo combined for the tenth shutout of the season for CNU.
Back in the first half, the Captains lead grew to 4-0 before intermission with
Avery Spell and
Ava Rassool scoring in the first 45 minutes. First, it was the junior midfielder, Spell, connecting with a bullet into the left side of the netting on a nice give-and-go play with Aguayo. After feeding Aguayo into the corner, Spell kept running with the play and received the pass back from the goal line. With an open look at the netting, she one-touched home a shot for her first career goal.
The final goal of the first half would also be the first career goal for another Captain as
Ava Rassool got free of her defender on a great run up the right side. DiTommaso had launched a long ball from the defense and Rassool ran onside before taking a touch and slipping in a pinpoint shot from a tough angle into the left side.
With her third assist, DiTommaso became just the 12th player in program history to log three assists in a game and the first to do it out of the back line. The only defender to ever register three helpers in a game did so in just over 18 minutes of action as she exited the game five minutes later.
CNU scored twice in the second half with seniors
AP Webb and
Brooke White rounding out the impressive offensive performance. In the 52nd minute, Webb was in the right place at the right time after
Caelyn LaFlamme and
Natalie Stern combined for a nice chance in the box. Stern's pass bounced just beyond the hands of the goalkeeper and Webb was there for the stab and the score. Webb's first goal of the season is the fifth of her career.
Finally, LaFlamme proved the catalyst again in the 62nd minute when she played a gorgeous through ball up the left side for White. The crafty CNU midfielder then dribbled around the goalkeeper and touched home the sixth goal of the night.
The Captains offense continued to press throughout the game and forced Regent's rookie goalkeeper, Evie Munroe, to make 19 saves in the game. It marks the third most saves by an opposing goalkeeper in program history and the most since 2011 when Johanna Wallinder (N.C. Wesleyan) recorded 20.
CNU got a game-high nine shots from sophomore
Julia Joyner, including three on-frame, while Webb added eight shots with four on frame. Rassool also had four on frame and seven total shots while
Brooke White had seven total and three attempts on target.
The CNU defense was led by senior
Riley Phillips with 80 minutes of action off the bench in helping preserve the shutout. Sophomores
Stella Corso and
Addy Hennessy also played 72 minutes on the back line while
Saige Berta and
Nora Cook each split the final spot on the back with 45 minutes apiece.
The six goals scored was the most for Christopher Newport since shutting out John Jay College, 12-0, in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on November 16, 2024.
Christopher Newport has just one game left on the regular season schedule as the Captains will close out the 2026 season on Saturday, October 31 against Salisbury University. Kickoff on Halloween is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., following a pre-game ceremony to honor the senior class on Senior Day.
