Christopher Newport University

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing on another muggy late Summer afternoon at Captains Field, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport men's soccer team continued to heat up on the field with a three-goal outburst against William Paterson University (2-1-2). The Captains earned a shutout in the 3-0 win and registered three different goal scorers in Tim McGuire, Drew McWhinney, and Evan Rupe. 

The Captains improved to 3-0-0 on the season with the win and featured a dominant offensive swing in the match. Having outscored opponents 12-0 through the first two-and-a-half games this season, the Captains tacked on three more to that tally and outshot the Pioneers by a final count of 28-9. That included a suffocating second half that saw CNU allow just two shots while blistering 14 of their own including seven on frame. 

In the first half, the Captains got on the board with an exceptional bit of teamwork starting up the right side. Veteran defender Declan Karney received a pass back from McWhinney just in front of the visiting bench and lobbed an exquisite over ball for his senior teammate, who had turned and sprinted up the sideline into the corner. He chested the ball to his feet and immediately crossed a pass into the box for Tim McGuire waiting on the back side. The sophomore rocketed a first shot off a defender, but it returned to his feet and he did not miss on the second effort, tickling the twine with a missile into the left side of the netting. 

With the scoring opened, the Captains narrowly missed on multiple chances the rest of the half with an opportunity to double the lead. Keeping CNU off the board was the Pioneers goalkeeper, Luca Misko, who made several highlight reel stops. CNU senior forward Joe Summerfield nearly snuck in a pair of shots and Yazan Yaghmmour added a low liner that was smothered in the final six minutes of the half. 

It was not long into the second half, though, that CNU got to Misko again. This time, the goal came on a set piece just outside the box on the left side. McWhinney stepped up to the ball on a restart and tucked a hard shot into the teeth of a crowded box. With multiple Captains crashing to the goalmouth, McWhinney's on-target blast ricocheted off a defender and into the back of the goal for the score. 

The 2-0 advantage would hold until the 80th minute when senior Evan Rupe connected on his third goal of the young season. The play started when Yaghmmour touched the ball inside to Diego Torres, who continued the play through to Alex Stell in the midfield. Stell then drove five yards before crossing the bacll back across the field into the corner for Ethan Arnolds near the goal line. The sophomore midfielder took just one touch before centering the pass back into the six-yard box where Rupe was ready and waiting to finish in front of the goal. 

The CNU defense locked up the shutout with a host of participants on the back line led by starters Carson Friedlein, Jackson Carlyon, Karney, and Yaghmmour. Coming in to help secure the shutout late were Ben Sullivan, Mason Robotham, Brayden Moyssiadis, A.J. Welsh, and Jack Otto. In goal, Matt Yates secured another win with three saves in just over 83 minutes of action while Caleb Johnson finished out the combined shutout. 

Next up for the Captains is Mount Union, set to travel to Captains Field on Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. The six-game homestand to start the season will then conclude on Saturday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. against N.C. Wesleyan.