GREENSBORO, N.C. — Earning the first-ever NCAA Tournament Title for Christopher Newport University Athletics, the CNU women's soccer team made history with a 2-0 win over top-ranked TCNJ (21-1-2) on Saturday afternoon at the 2021 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer National Championship. The Captains finished out an undefeated season as they hoisted the Walnut & Bronze Championship Trophy at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. with an overall record of 22-0-1.
"Still kind of in shock that this moment happened," said head coach Jamie Gunderson. "I'm just really proud of this group and how they handled this season. We knew it would be a tough matchup against TCNJ today after playing a tough matchup yesterday. We came in with our gameplan and the girls stuck with it and again they executed like they have day in and day out this season. I'm so happy for them to experience this and have our first national championship for our program."
The Captains earned the University's 13th overall team championship and first in a bracketed team sport. The previous 12 championships were won by the Indoor & Outdoor Women's Track & Field program with the last coming in 1998. In the first NCAA Division III women's soccer championship matchup between two public institutions since 1996, the Captains claimed the first title for a state school since 2006 when TCNJ won over Wheaton (IL). CNU is the 16th different Division III program to capture a team title and the fifth state school to ever accomplish the feat.
Capping an unbeaten run through the 2021 campaign with a most impressive victory, Christopher Newport became just the second team to shut out the perennial power, which came into the matchup among the national leaders in goals scored with 63 on the season. The Lions have been ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 since the second week of the season long and never wavered as one of the nation's elite teams offensively and defensively. Coming into the national championship, TCNJ had allowed more than one goal in a game only once and had surrendered only six goals overall.
Fifth-year senior Riley Cook had an assist on the game winner and scored another goal, adding to her unforgettable career to wrap up one of the most impressive NCAA Tournament performances of all time. She scored seven of the nine CNU goals scored in the 6-0 run through the postseason, and added an assist for a 15-point tournament. For her efforts, she was named the 2021 NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Offensive Player, matching the most points scored in a tournament by a single player since 2011. Most impressively, Cook is the first player in at least the last 23 seasons to score five or more game-winning goals in the postseason tournament.
On the other end of the field, junior center back Jill McDonald was honored as the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, helping the Captains hold two of the nation's most elite offenses without a goal in the championship weekend. McDonald and the rest of the Captains' defense earned five shutouts and allowed just a single goal in the NCAA Tournament en route to the national title. Joining Cook and McDonald on the 2021 All-Championship Team were midfielders Emily Talotta, Ellie Cox, and goalkeeper Haley Eiser.
With two of the nation's top teams facing off, it was Christopher Newport that held the advantage for the majority of the contest. Having trailed in a game only once all season, the Captains continued that trend by scoring early in the first half and tacking on a second goal on a penalty kick in the second half. Senior Sarah Smith scored the gamewinner on a corner kick taken by Cook and then the all-time leading scorer stepped up to the spot to finish the insurance tally for CNU.
Just over 18 minutes into the game, the Captains' offensive pressure led to a pair of corner kicks. On the first try, Cook's in-swinger was blasted wide off a defenders foot from Smith. With the second chance, the two connected again but this time on the back post. Cook's long corner kick sailed over the defense and Smith was there crashing through to one-time the shot into the back of the net.
Staked to a 1-0 lead, the Captains' defense took over from there. With seven minutes left in the first half, the Lions earned a free kick just outside of the box on the right side. After the two teams set up for the set piece, Ava Curtis smashed a drive into the box, but junior forward Molly Beegle stepped between the ball and the goal to clear away the attempt. Unsurprisingly, chances were limited for both teams in the first half as the two top-ten defenses traded blows. TCNJ put four shots on frame, but setting a trend for the rest of the match, most of their attempts were from long range and Eiser stopped all four with relative ease.
Immediately following the intermission, Smith slipped a through ball to Cook for a run down the middle. With a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper, Cook's shot sailed high with just 20 seconds expired into the second half. The near-miss was the first of a handful in the early stages as the Captains offense came out of the break swinging with a surge of shots in the first 15 minutes of the stanza. Talotta added another close opportunity for the Captains in the 53rd minute, beating a defender in the middle before swinging her left foot on a shot that whistled just left of the post.
It was the first of three shots by Talotta in the early portion of the period, including one that was hit hard, but right at the keeper in the 58th minute. In the 67th minute, the Captains would come through with another terrific goal-scoring opportunity which would lead to the second goal of the game for the Captains. After settling the ball around midfield and tracking it down on the Captains' side of the field, junior Molly Beegle powered a long pass over the back line of the Lions and Emma Ricci was off to the races. The sophomore forward sprinted by the TCNJ defense and had a couple of dribbles into the box when a defender tackled her from behind and the center official whistled for a penalty kick. With a program record 7-for-7 history from the penalty spot, Cook stepped in and registered her eighth career PK goal to put the Captains ahead, 2-0.
With the goal, Cook scored in all six Christopher Newport games in the NCAA Tournament. She logged her 90th career tally and finished her career with 198 career points.
As TCNJ threw everything forward in an attempt to cut into the Captains' lead, the Lions shot count grew, but quality chances were avoided by the CNU defense. Sophomore Maddie Blake made a potentially goal-saving play with a stellar tackle in the box to wrestle the ball away from Lindsay O'Keefe. It was the first time in the game the Lions created an opportunity inside the box, but Blake, just entering the game for an injured teammate, blitzed over and spun her leg around the ball to eliminate the threat. Of the 20 TCNJ attempts from the field, including seven on-goal, the bulk of the shots came from outside the 18-yard box. On another cross from the left side, freshman Re Slater made a dynamite play to step through and clear away a dangerous ball into the box from the Lions.
Eiser was up to the task between the pipes for CNU, stopping all seven shots on-goal to secure her record 32nd shutout. She concludes her career as the Captains' all-time leading goalkeeper as the two-time All-Region netminder finished with a 54-4-4 all-time record.
The 2-0 lead held up as the final score and as the clock expired, the bench erupted celebrating the Captains' first-ever national championship. Christopher Newport's Jamie Gunderson led the team to a national title in his first season as head coach in Newport News while finishing his second year at the helm. His Captains will carry a program-record 23-match win streak into next season.