Tournament Website
MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Opening up the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship at Montclair State University with a neutral site matchup, the Christopher Newport Captains (11-2-2) will take on Cortland (13-3-2) on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. The game will be the second of the Montclair pod which also features the host Red Hawks against Southern Virginia at 4:00 p.m.
On Saturday, the advancing teams will play in the second round at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can only be purchased at the gate and are CASH ONLY. Gates will open for admission one hour before the start of the game. Ticket prices are $15 for general admission and $5 for students; children 2 and under will be admitted free.
For fans unable to make the trip to New Jersey, live stats and a live video webcast will be available online. Links to both can be found on the men's soccer schedule at CNUsports.com as well as on the
Montclair State Tournament website here.
CNU is making the team's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance including the sixth since 2019 when head coach
Justin Chezem took the reins of the program. The Captains have won at least one game in seven straight postseason appearances dating back to the 2015 campaign.
Last season, Christopher Newport traveled to Lynchburg for the opening weekend pod and captured a thrilling overtime win against Berry College in the first round. The matchup against Cortland will be just the second-ever appearance against the Red Dragons but the first since 2001 when current Chezem and assistant coach
Ryan Hagerty were in the midst of their playing days. The Captains earned a 3-1 win against the Red Dragons in that matchup to take a 1-0-0 lead in the all-time series.
This season, CNU earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Championship with an NPI ranking of No. 30 in the final selection ratings index. The Captains are riding a five-game unbeaten streak including a pivotal win against Salisbury University, 1-0, that helped power CNU into the postseason.
Seven CNU players hauled in All-Conference honors since the completion of the regular season including three first team honorees.
Carson Friedlein,
Michael Hackworth, and
Drew McWhinney were named first team All-C2C selections while
Colin Skwirut,
Riley Usher,
Yazan Yaghmmour, and
Matt Yates each collected second team All-Conference certificates.
Cortland also earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship with an NPI rating of No. 17 after falling in the SUNYAC championship in penalty kicks. The Red Dragons are ranked No. 18 in the nation heading into the postseason tournament while being led by two-time Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Ott. He has a 0.50 goals-against average, an .836 save percentage, and 12 shutouts, which lead the nation.
