NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament, 1st Round
Cabrini University Cavaliers (10-5-4, 4-1-1 Atlantic East) vs. #5 Christopher Newport University Captains (16-0-1, 2-0-1 Coast 2 Coast)
Saturday, Nov. 13, 1pm
Captains Field, Newport News, VA

Game Day Links: Live Stats, Webcast, Digital Program
View NCAA Div. III Women's Soccer Tournament Interactive Bracket
View NCAA Div. III Women's Soccer Tournament Digital Program
Follow Cabrini Athletics on Social Media
 
Tickets
Admission for a single day session is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12. Children two and under with an adult will be free. Gates will open one hour before kickoff.

What's at Stake?
Saturday's winner will advance to Sunday's second round, where it will face either #23 Western Connecticut State or Franklin & Marshall, who meet at 3:30pm in Saturday's second opening round game. Sunday's winner will move ahead to next weekend's third round at a location yet to be announced.

Saturday will mark the second time the Cavaliers and Captains have met in the opening round of the Tournament. Then-No. 7 CNU scored a 6-0 home victory in the 2017 event. The Captains proved to be too strong for the Blue and White, posting a 33-4 advantage in shots, including 21-1 in the second half.

How Cabrini Got Here
The Cavaliers will make their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday after capturing the program's 12th conference title. Cabrini needed a pair of extra periods and a penalty kick shootout to repeat at Atlantic East Conference champions.

Despite outshooting Marywood 18-9, including 14-6 in regulation, and forcing eight corner kicks the Blue and White could not find the back of the net. Ninety minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of extra time was not enough, sending the match to penalty kicks.

Both clubs missed their first attempts and converted their second. Things changed in the third round, as graduate student goaltender Ashley Tutzauer saved Marywood's third attempt. The Cavaliers took a 2-1 lead on junior Jamie Falgie's attempt.

Both teams failed to convert n the fourth round, sending the shootout to a fifth and deciding round. Marywood stepped to the stop and converted to even the score, but junior Rebekah Cunningham put an end to the action, converting the championship clinching penalty.

Scouting the Cavaliers
Once again, the Blue and White success starts in the back of the pitch. Tutzauer provides the back stop for the unit, as she has done throughout all 1800 minutes of the season, and sports a miniscule .699 goals against average with 10 shutouts, fifth in Division III.

Led by 2021 Atlantic East Conference Defensive Player of the Year senior Brianna Blair, the Cabrini defensive unit have combined to concede a league-low 14 goals in its 19 matches.

While 12 Cavaliers have marked the scoring column this season, 17 of the team's 26 goals have come from four players, Graduate student Maria Hagan leads the way with five goals, one more than Blair, senior Kait Cloud and junior Rylie Butler.

Sophomore Ella Marrollo has also made an important contribution with a team high six assists on the season.

How Christopher Newport Got Here
CNU Will make its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday, after capturing its fourth conference crown in the last five season with last week's 1-0 win over UC Santa Cruz in the final of the Coach-to-Coast Conference.

Senior Sarah Smith scored the day's lone goal less than four minutes into the action and it proved to be all the Captains needed. CNU kept its pressure for the full 90 minutes, recording 17 shots on the day, while holding the Banana Slugs to just five attempts.

Only one of those shots provided a test for fifth year goaltender Hailey Eiser, who was forced to made a highlight reel diving stop in the game's final minutes to preserve the clean sheet.

Senior Riley cook led the Captains with five shots, one more than classmate Ryanne Davidson, while Smith finished the game with three attempts.

Scouting the Captains
The Captains provide a formidable challenge for any opponent, as they boast one of the nation's top offensive players with one of the country's top goaltenders.

CNU has recorded north of 400 shots on the season, as their average of more than 23.3 shots per game rank 13th in Division III, while it has held its opponents to just 102 shots and six goals on the campaign.

Cook, who currently leads all NCAA divisions in goals scored, set program records with 17 goals and 38 total points en route to being named Coast-to-Coast Offensive Player of the Year. Smith, a transfer from Virginia Tech, has made the most of her fist season with CNU, pairing seven goals and three dimes for 17 total points.

Eiser ranks eighth nationally in goals against average with a 0.281 mark and sixth overall in save percentage at .915.