NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After enduring a lengthy lightning delay in the first half, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport women's soccer team played to a scoreless draw against Hardin-Simmons University (0-0-1) and picked up the team's second shutout in as many games. Senior goalkeeper
Amy Sidaway notched her 35th career clean sheet by making four saves, adding to her school and conference record.
Early in the match it was the visitors who took advantage of early opportunities including forcing Sidaway to make her first save of the night just 7:25 into the contest. Shortly after, lightning in the area forced the teams to retreat to the locker rooms for over an hour. When the match restarted, the Cowgirls were ready to keep applying pressure. In the 15th minute, Kate Cooper smashed a shot off the crossbar and moments later Taylor Koch made Sidaway stop another shot on-goal.
After absorbing the initial wave of action, the Captains took control of the offensive chances for the majority of the game. CNU outshot Hardin-Simmons by a count 15-5 the rest of the way including a host of close opportunities that just narrowly missed putting the Captains on the board.
The first such chance came in the 37th minute when the Cowgirls tried a quick restart on a goalkick but the CNU forwards read it nicely and quickly stole the ball away, cutting off the passing lanes.
Anaya Lozano was left wide open in the center of the box, but her spinning shot sailed just wide of the net.
In the second half, the Captains mounted chance after chance including seven unanswered shots over a stretch of about 17 minutes of action in the middle of the period.
Bella Aguayo took a a hard shot from the right side that was saved and A.P. Webb nearly scooted a low shot under the keeper on a one-timer. In the 83rd minute, Webb again got loose close to the goalmouth and put a try on frame but it was stopped.
Bella DiTommaso played a restart into the box where Aguayo got a header back to the middle for Webb. She made solid contact just outside the six-yard box, but was unable to slip it into the back of the net.
Sidaway was challenged late but the savvy senior snared her fourth stop to secure the shutout. The NCAA active leader in shutout percentage is now 2-for-2 in 2026 and has pulled to within one of etching her name into the Division III record book for clean sheets.
The defense in front of her was led by
Malayah Warner,
Nora Cook,
Stella Corso, and DiTommaso who each played all 90 minutes in the game, which lasted over three hours due to the lightning delay.
Avery Spell also played 90 minutes and
Lexi Hazelgrove was on the field for 85 as the midfield limited Hardin-Simmons chances, specifically in the second half.
Christopher Newport will return to action on Sunday morning to take on Chapman University at 11:00 a.m. The Panthers opened the season on Friday night at Batten University with a 2-0 setback to the Marlins.
