BOSTON, Mass. -- The Christopher Newport men's soccer program was picked to win the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship in the annual preseason coaches poll announced on Tuesday. The defending champions of the C2C were unanimous picks to repeat following a vote of the league's head coaches heading into the 2026 season.
Christopher Newport collected all six possible first-place votes as coaches do not vote for their own team. With 36 points, the Captains were picked ahead of Mary Washington (29 pts) and Salisbury (25 pts), who secured the remaining first-place vote. Rounding out the top five are UC Santa Cruz (22 pts) and Johnson and Wales (18 pts), while that duo is trailed by Warren Wilson (9 pts) and Regent (8 pts).
The Captains enter the season ranked No. 24 in the nation after posting a 13-3-5 overall record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025. Head coach
Justin Chezem has lifted Christopher Newport into the postseason tournament in all but one of his first six seasons at the helm with a pair of conference crowns in the same span.
Heading into this season, the Captains return the bulk of its lineup from last year's championship season including three of the team's four leading scorers. With four goals scored, seniors
Joe Summerfield and
Drew McWhinney tied All-Region junior defender
Carson Friedlein for the team lead. Summerfield finished with 11 points (4g, 3a) while McWhinney and Friedlein each added 10 points (4g, 2a). Between them, the trio had six game-winning goals for the Captains in 2025.
On the defensive side, Friedlein paired with fellow junior
Declan Karney to patrol the middle of the field while veterans
Yazan Yaghmmour,
Ben Sullivan, and
Jack Otto helped round out the stingy defense that allowed just 16 goals in 21 games last season. That mark ranked among the top-30 nationally while CNU also ranked 34th in save percentage.
The Captains will open the season with six straight home games and eight of the first nine at Captains Field. The opener is scheduled for Friday, September 4 against Moravian University at 5:00 p.m.
| 2026 C2C Men's Soccer Preseason Poll |
|
Rank
|
Institution
|
Points (1st)
|
|
1.
|
Christopher Newport
|
36 (6)
|
| 2. |
Mary Washington |
29 |
| 3. |
Salisbury |
25 (1) |
| 4. |
UC Santa Cruz |
22 |
| 5. |
JWU Charlotte |
18 |
| 6. |
Warren Wilson |
9 |
| 7. |
Regent |
8 |
