Newport News, Va. – Senior captain Tori Poffenberger (Sharpsburg, Md./Boonsboro) matched a season-best five goals Saturday afternoon but the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team saw their win streak halted at seven. In their Capital Athletic Conference opener, the Seahawks dropped an 11-5 decision to Christopher Newport University for their first loss of 2016.

Junior attacker Meg Gesner (Severna Park, Md./Severn) was the only other Seahawk to tally a point on the day as Gesner assisted on Poffenberger's third of the afternoon to begin second half action.

St. Mary's (7-1, 0-1 CAC), who received votes in this week's IWLCA Division III Poll, outshot the Captains by a 27-19 margin and won the ground ball battle, 23-18, behind a game-best four ground balls from senior captain Shelby Newman (Hampstead, Md./Manchester Valley). Newman also added three caused turnovers as St. Mary's forced CNU into 22 turnovers.

The offensive woes for the Seahawks stemmed from their eight-meter shooting as St. Mary's went 0-for-8 in free-position shots for the game. First-year Emma Walsh (Marshall, Va./Highland) turned away six free-position shots while one hit the post and one was blocked by the CNU defense. On the flipside, the Captains connected on five of their seven free-position shots.

Christopher Newport (7-1, 2-0 CAC), who received votes in this week's IWLCA Division III Poll, opened up the game with an early 3-0 lead at 20:52 behind two goals from junior midfielder Meaghan Galvin (Arlington, Va./Yorktown). Poffenberger put a stop to CNU's run with two straight goals in a 35-second span, cutting the deficit to one at 19:24. The Captains tacked on two more to take a 5-2 halftime lead.

Galvin finished the day with four points as she registered a hat trick and an assist while first-year midfielder Sarah Culver (Westhampton, N.Y./Westhampton) also produced a hat trick as CNU won its sixth straight.

Poffenberger notched the first goal of the second half before Christopher Newport followed up with two more to stake at 7-3 lead at 14:41. St. Mary's stayed within three with Poffenberger's fourth at 11:22. The Captains put a seven-goal distance at 1:43 between themselves and the Seahawks by rattling off four unanswered scores.

Christopher Newport owned draw controls, edging St. Mary's by a 10-6 margin as the Captains won seven of 10 in the second half alone. Galvin helped the cause with a game-high seven draws.

Senior captain Kayla Dunn (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) came up with four saves and three ground balls for St. Mary's while Walsh finished with 10 stops, including seven in the final 30 minutes.

The Seahawks will look to get back in the win column when they host The Catholic University of America on Tuesday, March 22 at 4:00 p.m. at Seahawk Stadium.

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